Opinion ID: 2127388
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Denial of Hearing on Motion to Suppress

Text: On the morning of trial, Appellant filed a motion to suppress his statements on the basis that they were the product of an illegal arrest because he was not arrested within one and one-half hours of the alleged offense as required by section 577.039. The court denied the motion stating that he could preserve all of his arguments by objecting at the time the testimony was offered. The court noted that he had many prior opportunities to file a motion to suppress, but chose to wait until a jury was called. Appellant now argues that the trial court violated his constitutional rights by not conducting a hearing on his motion to suppress. In making his argument, Appellant states that because due process requires a procedure in which the voluntariness of a defendant's confession is determined by a proceeding separate from trial, he should have received a hearing on his motion to suppress on the basis that his statements were the product of an illegal arrest. No authority is cited for this proposition. The argument is without merit. Appellant was not prejudiced as he still had the opportunity to object to the admission of his statements when they were offered into evidence by the State, [3] even though the court did not conduct a separate hearing.