Opinion ID: 2588297
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Delay in suppression hearing

Text: Williams claims that the trial court's refusal to conduct an evidentiary hearing on her motion to suppress the blood evidence until after the close of trial was plain error. The fact that Williams' blood samples had not been refrigerated did not become known until near the end of the presentation of evidence phase, when Williams sought to introduce the retest results and the testimony of an expert witness not previously disclosed to the State. The State had introduced the blood evidence and the lab analyst's testimony, without objection, six days before this information became known. When this new information arose, the district court recognized that this information was new to all parties and considered the motion to suppress but denied it, without prejudice, on the basis that given the stage of the proceedings, it was not timely. The district court allowed counsel on both sides to examine the expert offered by Williams outside the presence of the jury. After hearing the testimony, the district court ruled that it would allow both sides ample time to examine the witness in the presence of the jury and would allow both sides to elicit testimony as to how the blood evidence would have been affected by the delay in retesting and by having been stored at room temperature. The district court also advised the parties that if the motion to suppress was renewed post-trial, an evidentiary hearing would then be conducted. NRS 174.125(1) provides that motions to suppress evidence must be made before trial, unless the moving party was unaware of the grounds for the motion before trial. NRS 174.125(3)(a) requires that motions to suppress must be made in writing not less than 15 days before the date set for trial except in certain circumstances not present in this case. NRS 174.125(3)(b) allows the district court to permit the motion to be filed at a later date if a defendant waives hearing on the motion or for other good cause shown. Here, Williams was unaware of the grounds for filing the motion before trial. The district court could have thus considered the motion during trial under NRS 174.125(3)(b). However, the terms in the statute are discretionary and the decision to consider the motion was therefore within the discretion of the district court. The district court considered the motion but refused to stop the proceedings in order to immediately conduct an evidentiary hearing. We conclude that this decision was within the district court's discretion.