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Pursuant to Ind.Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

FILED
Apr 13 2011, 8:52 am
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

CLERK

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: GREGORY F. ZOELLER Attorney General of Indiana CYNTHIA L. PLOUGHE Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: MARK EVERETT WATSON Terre Haute, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
STATE OF INDIANA, Appellant-Plaintiff, vs. MARY MCNEAL, Appellee-Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 84A05-1008-CR-485

APPEAL FROM THE VIGO SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Michael H. Eldred, Judge Cause No. 84D01-0812-FC-3840

April 13, 2011 MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION

BARNES, Judge

Case Summary The State appeals the trial court's granting of Mary McNeal's motion to suppress. We affirm. Issue The sole issue is whether the trial court properly suppressed evidence recovered following a search of McNeal's car. Facts The evidence most favorable to the trial court's ruling is that, shortly after midnight on December 5, 2008, Deputy Larry Hopper of the Vigo County Sheriff's Department pulled over a car that had no visible license plate. McNeal was the driver of the car, and Ron Davis was in the front passenger seat. When approaching the driver's side door, Deputy Hopper could see that there was a temporary license plate inside the car, lying flat underneath the rear window. After Deputy Hopper explained why he had stopped her, McNeal apologized and said that the car was a rental. After McNeal reattached the temporary tag to the back of the rear window so that it was visible from outside, Deputy Hopper asked McNeal for her license and a copy of the car rental agreement. When Deputy Hopper went to his vehicle to run McNeal's information, he asked her to sit in his vehicle and talk to him. McNeal told Deputy Hopper that she was driving from Chicago to Evansville and that Davis was her fianc

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Indiana Law