Opinion ID: 4536074
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: standard of review

Text: [1] In reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress based on a claimed violation of the Fourth Amendment, an appellate court applies a two-part standard of review. 2 Regarding historical facts, an appellate court reviews the trial court’s findings for clear error, but whether those facts trigger or violate Fourth Amendment protections is a question of law that an appellate court reviews independently of the trial court’s determination. 3 [2] When a motion to suppress is denied pretrial and again during trial on renewed objection, an appellate court considers all the evidence, both from trial and from the hearings on the motion to suppress. 4 [3] A trial court has the discretion to determine the relevancy and admissibility of evidence, and such determinations will not be disturbed on appeal unless they constitute an abuse of that discretion. 5 [4-6] In reviewing the strength of an affidavit submitted as a basis for finding probable cause to issue a search warrant, an appellate court applies a totality of the circumstances test. 6 The question is whether, under the totality of the circumstances illustrated by the affidavit, the issuing magistrate had a substantial basis for finding that the affidavit established probable cause. 7 Probable cause sufficient to justify issuance of a search warrant means a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found. 8 2 State v. Brye, 304 Neb. 498, 935 N.W.2d 438 (2019). 3 Id. 4 State v. Baker, 298 Neb. 216, 903 N.W.2d 469 (2017). 5 Id. 6 State v. Goynes, 303 Neb. 129, 927 N.W.2d 346 (2019). 7 Id. 8 Id. - 820 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 305 Nebraska Reports STATE v. JENNINGS Cite as 305 Neb. 809 [7] Harmless error review looks to the basis on which the jury actually rested its verdict. The inquiry is not whether in a trial that occurred without the error, a guilty verdict would surely have been rendered, but whether the actual guilty verdict rendered was surely unattributable to the error. 9