Criminal Evidence

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Criminal Evidence

• Chapter 10
• Where the Exclusionary Rule Does Not Apply

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The Exclusionary Rule Does Not Apply to Evidence
Obtained in a Private Search

• 4th Amendment prohibits unreasonable search and
  seizure
• Evidence obtained in violation of the 4th
  Amendment is inadmissible under the exclusionary
  rule
• Evidence obtained by private persons, even if the
  result of illegal conduct, is not subject to the
  exclusionary rule

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The Exclusionary Rule Applies Only in Criminal
Cases

• Forbids the use of evidence tainted or soiled by
  improper or illegal police conduct in criminal
  cases
• Such evidence however can be used in civil cases

4
Evidence Will Not Be Suppressed Where Only the
Rights of One Other Than the Defendant Have Been
Violated

• Evidence is excluded under the exclusionary rule
  by the defendant making a motion to suppress
  that evidence
• To succeed in this motion, the defendant must
  show his rights were violated, not the rights of
  some other person
• Standing- means the defendant is the proper
  person to challenge the police conduct because it
  violated the defendants rights

5
Abandoned Property Will Not Be Suppressed

• If by conduct or words the defendant shows that
  she has relinquished the expectation privacy in
  property, the object may be used as evidence

6
Throwaway as a Type of Abandonment

• Persons fleeing the police with illegal drugs or
  other contraband on their person will often throw
  away what can be very incriminating evidence
• If the throwaway is a voluntary abandonment of
  the object, courts will allow the object to be
  used as evidence against the person

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Denial of Ownership as a Form of Abandonment

• Persons who deny ownership of property to a law
  enforcement officer relinquish their right of
  privacy in the property and do not later have
  standing to challenge the use of evidence
  obtained from the property

8
Evidence Obtained from Garbage or Trash

• Trash receptacles kept in a home or garage have
  4th Amendment constitutional protection while
  located in such places
• Evidence obtained from these places without valid
  consent or a search warrant would be suppressed
  and could not be used, even if it were proven
  that the trash was abandoned

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Abandoned Motor Vehicles

• Many states have statutes that define when a
  vehicle is legally abandoned
• Wisconsin provides that if a vehicle is left
  unattended on a public highway or public property
  under such circumstances as to cause the vehicle
  to reasonably appear to have been abandoned for
  more than forty eight hours, the vehicle is
  deemed abandoned and constitutes a public nuisance

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Expiration of Rental Agreements for Motels and
Lockers as a Form of Abandonment

• Many courts have held that the expiration of a
  motel room agreement or the expiration of the
  rental time for a storage locker was a form of
  abandonment
• In those cases, courts held that defendants had
  no standing to challenge evidence obtained by
  police searches

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Evidence Discovered in Open Fields Will Not Be
Suppressed

• Curtilage-is that area close to a home where a
  persons assert a right of privacy
• The 4th Amendment extends to the home and to the
  Curtilage
• Open fields include any unoccupied or undeveloped
  area outside of the Curtilage

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Evidence Discovered in Open Fields Will Not Be
Suppressed Cont..

• An open field need be neither open nor a field as
  those terms are used in common speech
• An open field can consist of woods, swamps,
  meadows, or fields of farm crops

13
Evidence Discovered in Good Faith or Honest
Mistake Will Not Be Suppressed

• The Leon good faith rule permits the use of
  evidence where a search warrant contains a
  technical error that does not violate a
  fundamental constitutional right of a suspect
• Not all states have adopted this good faith
  exception
• Honest mistake-Court recognized the need to allow
  some latitude for honest mistakes that are made
  by officers in the dangerous and difficult
  process of making arrests and executing search
  warrants

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Other Areas Where the Exclusionary Rule Does Not
Apply

• Common Carriers (airlines, parcel services, etc)
• Grand jury proceedings
• Probation or parole revocation hearings
• Searches by probation or parole officers
• Military discharge proceedings
• Child protective proceedings
• Civil tax proceedings
• Evidence obtained in foreign countries
• Important witness testimony against the
  defendants
• Sentencing proceedings after criminal conviction

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The End