Exclusionary Rule Flashcards
Exclusionary Rule and Grand Jury
A grand jury witness may not refuse to answer questions on the ground that they are based on evidence obtained from an unlawful search or seizure
What is the Independent Source Doctrine?
Allows evidence obtained through unlawful means to still be admitted in court as long as the evidence is later obtained independently through lawful means
What are the two sources in an Independent Source situation?
- An unlawful search or seizure AND
- From an independent lawful source
The Evidence from Independent Source Doctrine must not be:
influenced by or deprived from the prior illegal conduct by law enforcement
What is the Inevitable Discovery?
If the prosecution can show that the police would have discovered the evidence whether or not they had acted unconstitutionally, the evidence will still be admissible
What is Attenuation?
If the connection between unconstitutional police conduct and the evidence is remote or has been interrupted by some intervening circumstance, so that the casual link between the police misconduct and the evidence is broken, the evidence will not be suppressed
What is an Intervening Act of Free Will?
An intervening act of free will by the Defendant will break the casual chain between the evidence and the original illegality and thus remove the taint and thus allowing its admission
What Factors do Courts use to examine Attenuation?
- The length of time between illegality and fruit
- Flagrancy of Misconduct
- Any intervening causes of seizure
- Any act of free will by the subject
What is the Length of Time between illegality and Fruit in Attenuation?
The closer in time the evidence is found or seized to the illegal conduct, the more likely the evidence is tainted by the misconduct
Short time frame: if police conduct an illegal search and immediately find drugs, the evidence is likely inadmissible because theres no separation between illegality and discovery
Long time frame: If hours or days pass between the misconduct and obtaining the evidence, the connection may be considered attenuating
What is the Flagrancy of Misconduct in Attenuation?
Courts look at how severe or deliberate the illegal conduct was
If the conduct was intentional or egregious, it weighs heavily against attenuation
What is Any Intervening Cause of Seizure in Attenuation?
Courts assess whether something significant happened between the illegality and the evidence discovery that breaks the casual chain
What is Any Act of Free Will by the Suspect in Attenuation?
If the suspect acts voluntarily and independently after the misconduct, it can break the casual connection
Their actions indicate that they were not coerced or directly caused by the illegality
What is the Good Faith Exception?
Exclusionary Rule does not apply when the police arrest or search someone erroneously but in good faith, thinking that they are acting in pursuant to a valid arrest warrant, search warrant, or law when the warrant turned out to be invalid
When can the Good Faith Exception Apply?
Where Magistrate assures law enforcement that clerical errors in the warrant have been corrected
Does the Exclusionary Rule apply to Knock and Announce Rule Violations?
NO:
When arresting officer, in good faith, mistakenly believed the suspect had outstanding warrant after clerk informed him, the illegal arrest did not require exclusion of evidence found during search incident to arrest
