Opinion ID: 2614607
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: standard of review

Text: If the findings of the trial court on a motion to suppress evidence are based on substantial evidence, the appellate court will not substitute its view of the evidence for that of the trial court. When reviewing a trial court's suppression of evidence, the appellate court normally gives great deference to the factual findings of the trial court. However, the ultimate determination of the suppression of evidence is a legal question requiring independent appellate determination. State v. Salcido-Corral, 262 Kan. 392, 406, 940 P.2d 11 (1997). When the facts material to a decision of the court on a motion to suppress evidence are not in dispute, the question of whether to suppress becomes a question of law. An appellate court's scope of review on questions of law is unlimited. State v. Anderson, 259 Kan. 16, 18, 910 P.2d 180 (1996). The relevant facts of this case are not really in dispute. Both parties agree that the trash was seized without a search warrant, that the trash was located in an area separated from the street by a drainage ditch, and that the trash was put in this location for city sanitation crews to pick up and discard. We shall, accordingly, treat the issue as a matter of law with an unlimited scope of review.