Where does the Exclusionary Rule Not Apply?

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Chapter 10

• Where the Exclusionary Rule Does Not Apply

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Where does the Exclusionary Rule Not Apply?

• Civil cases and proceedings
• Evidence obtained in a private search by a
  private person
• A private search can become a government search
  when the government enters participation in the
  search.

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• The exclusionary rule does not apply to evidence
  obtained in a consent search (U.S. v. Drayton,
  2002).
• However, two requirements for the use of evidence
  in a consent search must be met
• 1. Proof that consent was given voluntarily, and
• 2. Proof that consent was obtained from a person
  with actual or apparent authority to grant the
  consent.

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• The person giving consent to search may limit the
  area to be searched and may also revoke consent
  at any time.
• Consent is not needed to enter premises if there
  are exigent circumstances.

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Georgia v. Randolph (2006)

• In this case, the Supreme Court held, while there
  was a fine line drawn that a third party
  consent (in cohabitation) will be recognized, but
  only if this is within the wishes of the other
  cohabitant.

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U.S. v. Groves (2008)

• In Groves, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
  upheld the validity of a search under the consent
  of one cohabitant even though law enforcement
  knew the defendant would be away from the home.

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• A defendant does not have standing if no right of
  privacy of the defendant has been violated.
• Evidence obtained from an abandoned property will
  not be suppressed.

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Chapter 10

• Where the Exclusionary Rule Does Not Apply

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Where does the Exclusionary Rule Not Apply?
(Cont.)

• Evidence found in open fields or when evidence is
  discovered in plain view
• Evidence is obtained where the Good Faith rule
  or the Honest Mistake rule apply
• Evidence obtained by a law officer who has lawful
  authority to seize the evidence

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Evidence obtained in a private search by a
private person

• Evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth
  Amendment is inadmissible.
• This prohibition applies to mistakes or
  misconducts by police and other officials in the
  executive branch of govt, NOT by private
  citizens.

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Evidence obtained in a private search by a
private person

• The exclusionary rule does not apply to private
  persons
• Evidence obtained by private persons, even if the
  result of illegal conduct, is not subject to.
• Exclusionary Rule
• Supreme Court held in what case?
• Burdeau v. McDowell

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Exclusionary rule applies in ONLY in criminal
cases.

• The exclusionary rule forbids the use of evidence
  tainted or spoiled by improper or illegal police
  conduct in criminal cases.
• This evidence can be used in
• Civil cases
• Which case did this apply to?
• O.J. Simpson

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If a defendant does not have standing or if no
right of privacy of the defendant has been
violated

• The exclusionary rule does not apply
• Evidence is excluded by the defendant making a
  motion to suppress that evidence.
• To succeed in this motion, the defendant must
  show that his rights were violated, not the
  rights of some other person.

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Standing

• Meaning that the defendant is the proper person
  to challenge the police conduct because it
  violated the defendants rights specifically.

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Evidence obtained from abandoned property will
not be suppressed

• If, by conduct or words, the defendant shows that
  he/she has relinquished the expectation privacy
  in property, the object can be used as evidence.
• Which case defined the legal concept of
  abandonment?
• United States v. Thomas, 1989

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Throwaway as a type of abandonment

• Persons fleeing the police with illegal drugs or
  other contraband on their person will throw away
  what can be very incriminating.
• If the throwaway is a voluntary abandonment of
  the objects, the courts will
• Allow the object to be used as evidence.
• If the throwaway is the direct or indirect
  product of an illegal police stop or other
  improper police conduct, the courts will
• Generally forbid the use of the throwaway item as
  evidence.

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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 a
  standing to challenge the use of evidence
  obtained from the property.

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Examples of denial cases that have come before
criminal courts

• Airport denial of luggage
• Train passengers denial of a garment bag
• Denial of luggage in the trunk of car
• Denial of a satchel that the defendant hid after
  a car accident.
• Denial of ownership of an apartment

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Evidence obtained from a garbage or trash

• Trash receptacles kept in a home or garage have
  Fourth Amendment constitutional protection.
• Evidence obtained from these places without valid
  consent or a search warrant would be suppressed.
• One who disposes of personal property in a trash
  bin and places it at curbside or in a common
  trash receptacle generally is held to have
  abandoned the property.
• (Calif. v. Greenwood)

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Abandoned Motor Vehicles

• United States v. Oswald
• U.S. court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, 783 F.2d
  663 (1986)
• Defendant was transporting 300,000 worth of
  cocaine in a stolen car when the car caught on
  fire. Oswald fled from the car thinking it would
  blow up. He did not report the fire. When the
  authorities put out the fire they took all of the
  personal items out of the car before having it
  towed. They then found the suitcase full of
  cocaine.
• Because the car was abandoned for more than a
  hour and half, they were able to use the evidence
  in court.

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Evidence discovered in open fields WILL NOT be
suppressed

• Curtilage is that area close to a home where
  persons assert of right of privacy.
• The protection of the fourth amendment extends to
  the home and the curtilage.
• U.S. Supreme Court defined curtilage as follows
  in 1984
• Persons living in a single-family home have a
  greater expectation of privacy in their curtilage
  than a large apartment building.

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1987 The U.S. Supreme Court held that

• Curtilage questions should be resolved with the
  reference to four factors
• The proximity of the area claimed to be curtilage
  to the home
• Whether the area is included within an enclosure
  surrounding the home
• The nature of the uses to which the area is put
• The steps taken by the resident to protect the
  area from observation by the people passing by

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Evidence discovered in good faith or honest
mistake will not be suppressed

• The Good Faith Exception
• 1984, the US Supreme Court case of United States
  v. Leon
• 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.

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The Honest Mistake Rule

• U.S. Supreme Court case of Maryland v. Garrison
  (1987)
• The Supreme Court pointed out that the court has
  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.