U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Gant
The United States Supreme Court has recently made a crucial decision on individual rights related to police searches. The decision comes from a lower court state criminal case in Arizona. A defendant was arrested for driving without a valid license. The resulting search produced cocaine and a felony arrest for cocaine. The case reached the United States Supreme Court based on the impact on individual protections. These searches of vehicles can only be attacked by a motion to suppress. In South Carolina State court this motion is not heard until the day of trial unlike most other jurisdictions. This puts the criminal defense attorney in South Carolina in a difficult position to prepare for trial. The case can change dramatically depending on the Court's ruling. The Gant decision will provide the basis for many motions to suppress in South Carolina. The case law in South Carolina is very limited compared to many jurisdictions. One reason for this is the population of South Carolina is very rural and the actual number of cases going to trial is also very limited.
The Federal Courts in South Carolina will take immediate notice of this Supreme Court decision. Many of the State courts will most likely have to litigate the issue and provide the United States Supreme Court analysis for their local decisions. Any good criminal defense lawyer in South Carolina will be familiar with this decision and be able to apply this to any potential case. A good criminal defense attorney will also try to expand the meaning of this ruling to other cases that may be similar. Many attorneys will see this decision as hurting individual rights in the future, but the opposite should be true. This decision should be expanded to other areas of search and seizure law in the United States and South Carolina.
Our criminal lawyers in South Carolina can provide the skills needed to file a motion to suppress in a case similar to Gant. If you need a defense attorney in Florence we will be happy to help with that issue. Our Charleston attorneys are ready to help you win your case. Call any of our attorneys in Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Florence, Columbia.
