State v. Wolfe, 165 Idaho 338

Summary

The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed an order suppressing evidence obtained from a cell phone that law enforcement seized without a warrant. The court held that the State failed to preserve its independent-source argument because it expressly relied below on attenuation and other theories instead. The court declined to consider the independent-source exception for the first time on appeal.

Holdings

1. The State did not preserve the independent-source exception because it expressly presented State v. Russo to the district court only under an attenuation theory and did not argue independent source as an alternative.
2. The district court's order suppressing the evidence obtained from the phone was affirmed because the State's independent-source argument was not preserved for appeal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the State preserved for appellate review its argument that the independent-source exception to the warrant requirement applied.
2. Whether the district court erred in suppressing evidence obtained from the cell phone after its warrantless seizure.

Disposition

affirmed