CA4: When lower court decides both PC and GFE, on appeal either one can be decided

When the district court decides both probable cause for issuance of the warrant and the good faith exception applies, the court of appeals need only decide one; here good faith. “Because our review of the record demonstrates that the affidavit in this case bears sufficient indicia of probable cause to support the search, we find no reversible error in the district court’s denial of Martin’s motion to suppress.” United States v. Martin, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 2130 (4th Cir. Jan. 26, 2021).*

Ineffective assistance of counsel claims aren’t often decided on direct appeal for lack of a record on the issue. After defendant’s conviction for possession, he appealed raising that issue for failure to move to suppress. On what little record there is, the only conclusion is that defendant’s stop for going 115 in a 70 was justified and then marijuana could be smelled. On that, any suppression motion would have been denied, so no IAC. People v. Rowell, 2021 IL App (4th) 180819, 2021 Ill. App. LEXIS 19 (Jan. 26, 2021).*