Criminal procedure
Motion to Suppress
A motion to suppress asks the court to exclude evidence because it was obtained in violation of the defendant's constitutional rights.
The usual targets are a search that exceeded or lacked a valid warrant, a stop without reasonable suspicion, or a statement taken without proper warnings or after a request for counsel. The remedy is exclusion of the evidence and anything derived from it.
These motions often decide federal criminal cases. If the drugs, the laptop, or the confession goes out, the prosecution may have nothing left, so suppression hearings feature live testimony from the officers involved.
Suppression hearings are also unusually public windows into investigations. Agents testify about how a stop happened or how a phone was searched, and the transcript often reveals techniques that never appear in the charging documents.
How it appears on a docket
MOTION to Suppress Evidence and Statements filed by defendant. Evidentiary hearing held 5/19/2026; motion DENIED in a written opinion at docket 78.
Governing rule
Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(b)(3)(C); U.S. Const. amends. IV, V
Related terms
- Search Warrant — A search warrant is a judge's authorization to search a specific place for specific evidence, based on a sworn showing of probable cause.
- Brady Material — Brady material is evidence favorable to the defendant that the prosecution must turn over, including anything that undermines guilt or a witness's credibility.
More on criminal procedure
See this term in a real case
Search federal court records and read the filings where motion to suppress actually shows up. New to federal dockets? Start with how to find a federal case.