Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

MO: Self-defense claim rendered search claim harmless at best

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The search of defendant's house followed his admission he had a gun. The finding of the gun was consistent with his plea of self-defense, so any claim of unlawful search was rendered harmless by his defense. State v. James, 2008 Mo. App. LEXIS 1465 (October 31, 2008): Assuming arguendo that the trial court's ruling on the motion to suppress was erroneous, the admission of the evidence the police collected at Defendant's home was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because Defendant admitted during the trial that he used the SKS rifle to kill Victim inside that dwelling. The discovery of the body, rifle, shell casings, bullet fragments and other evidence was completely consistent with Defendant's own trial testimony that he killed Victim in self-defense...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on November 10, 2008 (boomark / email).