Suppression of evidence

Suppression of evidence

Suppression of evidence is a term used in the United States legal system to describe the lawful or unlawful act of preventing evidence from being shown in a trial. This could happen for several reasons. For example, if a judge believes that the evidence in question was obtained illegally, he can rule that it not be shown in court. It could also refer to a prosecutor improperly or intentionally hiding evidence that he or she is legally obligated to show the defense. In the latter case, this would be a violation of the 5th amendment to the United States Constitution. This can result in a mistrial in the latter case and/or the dismissal of the prosecutor.

Exceptions

If the discovery of an item(s) was obtained by illegal means, it may still be allowed into evidence under some circumstances. These exceptions include:

* Inevitable discovery - if discovery of the evidence was inevitable via purely legal means
* Independent source - if the discovery involved a combination of legal and illegal means, but the illegality was of marginal significance, such that the evidence could have been discovered based on the legal source alone
* Standing - the violation affects the rights of someone other than the defendant, and the defendant does not have standing to complain
* Good faith - the illegality is not the fault of the law enforcement officers who obtained the evidence, who did so pursuant to a facially valid warrant granted by a neutral and detached magistrate.
* Attenuation - If the relationship between the illegality and the nature of the evidence obtained is reduced sufficiently for the evidence to be considered untainted (e.g., use of a booking photo from an unlawful arrest to identify the defendant in a lineup)

Evidence obtained as a result of Miranda violations is also subject to special analysis, depending on whether the statement is deemed voluntary or coerced, not merely whether police provided the appropriate warnings.

References

* [http://dictionary.law.com/default2.Asp?selected=2069&bold=%7C%7C%7C%7C Legal dictionary]
* [http://www.acgov.org/da/pov/documents/suppression.pdf Report on the subject.]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • suppression of evidence — n. (1) A court’s refusal to admit evidence acquired by unlawful means. (2) A party’s refusal or failure to furnish opposing counsel with evidence that might prove unfavorable. The Essential Law Dictionary. Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of… …   Law dictionary

  • suppression of evidence — Relief obtained upon motion in preventing evidence illegally secured from being introduced in a case. 29 Am J2d Ev § 425. The failure of a party to testify or to produce available witnesses, his destruction or spoliation of evidence. 29 Am J2d Ev …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • suppression of evidence — The ruling of a trial judge to the effect that evidence sought to be admitted should be excluded because it was illegally acquired. Motions to suppress illegally obtained evidence are governed by Fed.R.Crim.P. 5.1(a), 12, and 41. See also… …   Black's law dictionary

  • evidence — ev·i·dence 1 / e və dəns, ˌdens/ n [Medieval Latin evidentia, from Latin, that which is obvious, from evident evidens clear, obvious, from e out of, from + videns, present participle of videre to see]: something that furnishes or tends to furnish …   Law dictionary

  • evidence — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) Means of proving Nouns 1. evidence, facts, premises, data, grounds, demonstration, confirmation, corroboration, support, ratification, authentication, acknowledgment, proof; state s, king s, queen s,… …   English dictionary for students

  • Suppression of English Monasteries Under Henry VIII —     Suppression of English Monasteries under Henry VIII     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Suppression of English Monasteries under Henry VIII     From any point of view the destruction of the English monasteries by Henry VIII must be regarded as one… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Suppression of dissent — occurs when an individual or group which is more powerful than another tries to directly or indirectly censor, persecute or otherwise oppress the other party, rather than engage with and constructively respond to or accommodate the other party s… …   Wikipedia

  • Suppression — Sup*pres sion, n. [L. suppressio: cf. F. suppression.] 1. The act of suppressing, or the state of being suppressed; repression; as, the suppression of a riot, insurrection, or tumult; the suppression of truth, of reports, of evidence, and the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Suppression of Freemasonry — Some governments, mostly authoritarian, and virtually all totalitarian, regimes have treated Freemasonry as a potential source of opposition due to its secret nature and international connections. It has been alleged by Masonic scholars that the… …   Wikipedia

  • illegally obtained evidence — Evidence which is obtained in violation of defendant s rights because officers had no warrant and no probable cause to arrest or because the warrant was defective and no valid grounds existed for seizure without a warrant. Evidence secured in… …   Black's law dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”