Suppress Wiretap Evidence, Motion to

Except as indicated, all indented material is copied directly from the opinion. 

Decisions of the Tennessee Supreme Court

State of Tennessee v. Patton, No. M2020-00062-CCA-R3-CD, p. 27 (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. May, 6, 2022).

In reviewing a trial court’s determinations regarding a suppression hearing, “[q]uestions of credibility of the witnesses, the weight and value of the evidence, and resolution of conflicts in the evidence are matters entrusted to the trial judge as the trier of fact.” State v. Odom, 928 S.W.2d 18, 23 (Tenn. 1996). Thus, “a trial court’s findings of fact in a suppression hearing will be upheld unless the evidence preponderates otherwise.” Id. Nevertheless, appellate courts will review the trial court’s application of law to the facts purely de novo. See State v. Walton, 41 S.W.3d 75, 81 (Tenn. 2001). Furthermore, the prevailing party is “entitled to the strongest legitimate view of the evidence adduced at the suppression hearing as well as all reasonable and legitimate inferences that may be drawn from that evidence.” Odom, 928 S.W.2d at 23.

Decisions of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals