STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JAMES ROBERT BLACK, JR. - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JAMES ROBERT BLACK, JR.

Posted by: Karen Belcher on May 27, 2020

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Caitlin Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Brent A. Cooper, District Attorney General; and J. Victoria Haywood, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellant, State of Tennessee.

Attorneys 2: Kevin S. Latta, Columbia, Tennessee, for the appellee, James Robert Black, Jr.

Judge(s): WOODALL

Defendant, James Robert Black, Jr., was charged in a seven-count indictment returned by the Lawrence County Grand Jury with DUI second offense, DUI per se second offense, reckless driving, violation of the open container law, violation of the child restraint law, driving his vehicle left of the center of the road, and violation of the implied consent law. All the charges were the result of one traffic stop of Defendant by a trooper of the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Defendant filed a motion to suppress all evidence seized on the basis that the trooper made an unconstitutional stop of Defendant’s vehicle without probable cause or reasonable suspicion supported by specific and articulable facts that a crime had been, or was about to be, committed. After an evidentiary hearing, the trial court granted the motion. As a result, the charges were dismissed upon motion of the State and the State filed an appeal as of right. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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