Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Jan 18, 2022
STATE OF MISSOURI, Plaintiff-Appellant v. THOMAS ELVIN BRANSON, Defendant-Respondent
Thomas Elvin Branson was charged with delivering a controlled substance, and the trial court granted his motion to suppress drugs found in his backpack and statements he made. The State appealed the suppression of the drugs, arguing the search was lawful incident to arrest or that the drugs would have been inevitably discovered. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's order, concluding that the trial court was entitled to disbelieve the State's testimonial evidence regarding both the search incident to arrest and the inevitable discovery doctrines.