Missouri Laws 542.296 – Motion to suppress, grounds for
1. A person aggrieved by an unlawful seizure made by an officer and against whom there is a pending criminal proceeding growing out of the subject matter of the seizure may file a motion to suppress the use in evidence of the property or matter seized. For the purposes of this section, a pending criminal proceeding shall mean any criminal investigation being conducted with the intention of using the seized subject matter in seeking an indictment or information or when an information has been issued or an indictment returned.
2. The motion to suppress shall be in writing. It shall be filed with the court in which there is pending against the moving party a criminal proceeding growing out of the subject matter of the seizure.
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 542.296
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- Property: includes real and personal property. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
3. The motion shall be made before the commencement of the trial of the moving party on the charge arising out of the seizure unless he was unaware of the grounds or had no opportunity to do so before the trial. In that event the motion may be made during the trial. However, the trial judge may in his discretion entertain a motion any time during trial.
4. Notice shall be given to the prosecuting attorney of the date, time, place and nature of the hearing.
5. The motion to suppress may be based upon any one or more of the following grounds:
(1) That the search and seizure were made without warrant and without lawful authority;
(2) That the warrant was improper upon its face or was illegally issued, including the issuance of a warrant without proper showing of probable cause;
(3) That the property seized was not that described in the warrant and that the officer was not otherwise lawfully privileged to seize the same;
(4) That the warrant was illegally executed by the officer;
(5) That in any other manner the search and seizure violated the rights of the movant under § 15 of Article I of the Constitution of Missouri, or the fourth and fourteenth amendments of the Constitution of the United States.
6. The judge shall receive evidence on any issue of fact necessary to the decision of the motion. The burden of going forward with the evidence and the risk of nonpersuasion shall be upon the state to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the motion to suppress should be overruled.
7. If the motion is sustained, the judge shall order the property or matter delivered to the moving party, unless its retention is authorized or required by section 542.301, or by any other law of this state.