NCJ Number
126277
Date Published
1991
Length
12 pages
Annotation
U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning the exclusionary rule are analyzed in their significance to law enforcement.
Abstract
The Supreme Court decided that evidence illegally seized by Federal law enforcement officers is not admissible in Federal criminal prosecutions in the case Weeks v. U.S., 232 U.S. 383 (1914). Although searches by State law enforcement officers are not governed by the exclusionary rule, some searches are so "shocking to the conscience" as to require exclusion of the evidence seized based on the due process clause of the Constitution, as decided in the case Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165 (1952). In the case U.S. v. Crews, 445 U.S. 463 (1980), the pretrial identification of a suspect in a photograph and lineup were ruled inadmissible as evidence due to the illegal arrest. However, evidence illegally obtained may be admissible if the police can prove that they would have discovered the evidence anyway through lawful means, as ruled in the case Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431 (1984). Even if the police illegally enter private property, according to the ruling in Murray v. U.S., 487 U.S. 533 (1988), evidence initially discovered during that illegal entry may be admissible in court if it is later discovered during a valid search that is wholly unrelated to the illegal entry.