Defendant was involved in auto collision on bridge spanning the Ohio River between Illinois and Kentucky, on Illinois side of bridge along a curve over dry land in Illinois. Defendant was initially charged in Kentucky with offenses stemming from the incident, but charges were later dismissed on grounds that accident had actually occurred in Illinois. Curve in bridge where accident occurred had, for 21 years, historically been considered Kentucky's jurisdiction. Responding officers' belief that Kentucky had jurisdiction over any incident occurring on the bridge was objectively reasonable. They were not responsible to detemine whether U.S. Supreme Court's 1991 decision in Illinois v. Kentucky case might have changed the legal landscape that had been governed by agreement as to jurisdiction over accidents on the bridge. As exclusion of evidence is a court's "last resort", court should not have ignored State's good-faith argument and should have denied Defendant's motion to suppress in its entirety. (WELCH and MOORE, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Motion to Suppress