Jed Peterson wins appeal, resulting in suppression of drug evidence

O'Connor Weber Senior Associate Jed Peterson won a victory in a criminal direct appeal because the police had illegally obtained evidence against his client. In an opinion issued on December 2, 2015, in State v. Pichardo, 275 Or App 49 (2015), the Oregon Court of Appeals held that the trial court erred in denying the defendant’s motion to suppress. Mr. Peterson argued that evidence should have been suppressed from a “consent” search that followed an unlawful seizure. The court agreed that “the state failed to demonstrate that defendant’s consent to search was not the product of police exploitation of the unlawful seizure.” Accordingly, the court reversed the trial court’s decision and remanded for further proceedings.