If the court deems that an arrest was unlawful, is the state's entire case tossed?
Say, for example, police obtained evidence lawfully prior to the arrest, and they obtained evidence lawfully after the arrest. Is the case a bust if the arrest was unlawful?
Crim Pro Q-unlawful arrest-Is the case auto-dismissed Forum
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I.P. Daly
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Renzo
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Re: Crim Pro Q-unlawful arrest-Is the case auto-dismissed
No. The remedy for unlawful arrest is in tort and exclusion of evidence obtained through the illegal seizure at trial. If the police can prove through one of the exception to the exclusionary rule (inevitable discovery, collateral source, good faith) that they have enough untainted evidence, they can still get a conviction.
For example, imagine the police had physical proof and eyewitnesses to tie a suspect to a murder. They arrest the suspect in his own home without a warrant, and discover more evidence while doing so. The evidence they had before the arrest comes in because it's untainted, but the evidence found in his house would be excluded unless there was an exception that applied.
For example, imagine the police had physical proof and eyewitnesses to tie a suspect to a murder. They arrest the suspect in his own home without a warrant, and discover more evidence while doing so. The evidence they had before the arrest comes in because it's untainted, but the evidence found in his house would be excluded unless there was an exception that applied.
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I.P. Daly
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Re: Crim Pro Q-unlawful arrest-Is the case auto-dismissed
Ah, okay. Thanks!Renzo wrote:No. The remedy for unlawful arrest is in tort and exclusion of evidence obtained through the illegal seizure at trial. If the police can prove through one of the exception to the exclusionary rule (inevitable discovery, collateral source, good faith) that they have enough untainted evidence, they can still get a conviction.
For example, imagine the police had physical proof and eyewitnesses to tie a suspect to a murder. They arrest the suspect in his own home without a warrant, and discover more evidence while doing so. The evidence they had before the arrest comes in because it's untainted, but the evidence found in his house would be excluded unless there was an exception that applied.
