Untimely Filing of Motion Suppression Motion in California

In n People v. Martinez (1975) 14 Cal.3d 533, a suppression motion brought midtrial was deemed untimely. The defendant claimed the motion should have been heard pursuant to Penal Code section 1538.5, subdivision (h) because his trial counsel had been "unaware of the grounds for suppression" until after an officer's testimony during trial. (Martinez, supra, at p. 537.) The California Supreme Court rejected the claim, explaining that trial counsel's "access to information concerning the case" was not limited to the transcript of the preliminary hearing; trial counsel "could have learned the grounds for a pretrial suppression motion by simply interviewing his client." (Ibid., fn. omitted.)