Opinion ID: 1454001
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motion to Suppress and Failure to Object

Text: Johnson moved to suppress the checks at a pretrial hearing, but did not renew his objection when the checks were offered and admitted at trial. The prosecution argues that under State v. Lesley, 672 P.2d 79 (Utah 1983), Johnson waived his objection to the admissibility of the checks and, therefore, may not raise the issue on appeal. In Lesley, the Court held, [U]nder Rule 4 of the Utah Rules of Evidence, a specific objection is required even where a pretrial motion to suppress has been made. 672 P.2d at 82. The Court reasoned that even though a pretrial motion to suppress evidence had been made and denied, an objection to the admissibility of the evidence at trial should have been made because the trial judge was not the same judge who had ruled on the motion to suppress and there was no indication in the record that an evidentiary hearing on the motion had been conducted. However, the rule in Lesley does not require a defendant to object or to renew his motion to suppress at trial where the trial judge is also the judge who ruled on the pretrial motion and where the record or transcript indicates that an evidentiary hearing was held. Since the trial judge in this case was also the judge who presided at the suppression hearing, the defendant's failure to object at trial did not constitute a waiver of his Fourth Amendment claim.