Exclusionary Rule

Exclusionary Rule

• If police break the rules (like searching without probable cause), the evidence they find can’t be used in court.

• Protects the 4th Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures; discourages police misconduct

Fruit from The Poisonous Tree

Evidence found as a result of illegal police actiivty

• Contraband

• Fingerprints

• Hair / DNA Samples

• Testimonies

(etc)

Three defenses to allegations of “tainted evidence”

• Indendent Source

• Inevitable Discovery

• Attenuation

Good Faith Exception

Allows evidence to be admitted when the officer has reasonable relied on a properly issued warrant

Independent Source

• Evidence initially discovered during (or because of) an unlawful search, but later obtained independently through lawful means, can be admitted in court.

• Prevents the exclusionary rule from being too harsh when there’s a legit, separate path to the evidence.

Inevitable Discovery

• Evidence that was illegally obtained can still be admitted if the prosecution proves it would have been discovered lawfully anyway

• Prevents defendants from getting a “windfall” when discovery of evidence was bound to happen lawfully.

Attenuation

• Evidence may be admissible if the connection between illegal police conduct and the evidence is distant or broken by intervening circumstances.

• Recognizes that not all evidence indirectly linked to police misconduct must be excluded.