Examining the Exclusionary Rule

Part 1: 3-5 paragraphs       

You and your partner are members of a narcotics street unit. Your partner is eager to make a bust and is very motivated and exuberant. During your street prowl you pick up a local prostitute who your partner immediately shakes down and finds a vial of cocaine in her purse. At the time she was not under arrest and was not asked for consent to the search. Before you can respond he tells her that if she sets up her dealer she will not get busted for the cocaine possession. Your partner then tells her that if the dealer is not holding any cocaine she is to plant the vial of cocaine in his pocket so the police can find it there when they do the arrest.

Please include answers in your main posting for the following questions. Support your answers with your research. You must provide meaningful feedback to the main postings of at least two of your classmates.

• Identify the issues your partner has that relate to the exclusionary rule.
• What aspects of this action may shock the conscience of the court?
• What ensuing evidence found based on this operation may be discarded as “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree”.

Part 2:

You are an investigator with the District Attorney’s Investigation Team for a major metropolitan area. You are one of the recently hired 16 new investigators that will be sprinkled throughout the department. All 16 of you have had little time as investigators and the Chief’s concern is that you all are properly trained in issues of the exclusionary rule to avoid problems later on during investigations. This is a political hot potato because these are supposed to be the best investigators in the jurisdiction. Your goal is to develop a 5-6 page white paper that outlines concerns for Exclusionary Rule issues.

In a white paper of 5-6 pages to be presented to the newly assigned investigators, please include responses to the bulleted issues listed below. It is critical that when you make a statement of fact in your presentation that you cite the reference you obtained the information from in the text of the paper and that the reference is included in your reference page. As always your paper will be submitted in the APA format current edition. No abstract is required as this is a short position paper but a title page, reference page, and appropriate running header with page numbers are necessary.

• Assignment Guidelines
• Address the following in 5-6 pages:
  • Describe the “Exclusionary Rule” and what it is meant to protect the citizens of this country from.
    • What are the benefits of the Exclusionary Rule? Explain.
  • Identify at least two methods of demonstrative evidence which would explain the concept of “Best Evidence”. You may use scenarios to describe the theory of Best Evidence.
  • Explain to the newly appointed investigators the absolute adherence to avoiding any evidentiary issue that would result in a “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree” violation. Explain the ramifications and results of such a violation. Use at least two scenarios to demonstrate this issue.
  • Explain to the new investigators the idea behind the courts displeasure with issues like the Christian Burial Speech. What might it mean in the long run to a serious case just as it did with Brewer v. Williams.
  • Explain the types of behavior that may result in the application of the Shocking the Conscience of the Court Test. Provide at least one scenario as demonstrative instruction.
  • Provide instruction that coercion is a clear violation of the constitution. What areas are violated and what types of behavior are considered coercion.
  • What are the liabilities of the Exclusionary Rule? Explain.
    • What types of errors can occur? Explain
    • What ramifications can result from these errors? Explain.
• Be sure to reference all sources using APA style.