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CA11: Riverside/Gerstein violation did not warrant suppression of statement

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A Riverside/Gerstein violation does not require exclusion. Here, defendant's confession was a product of free will. Lawhorn v. Allen, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 5159 (11th Cir. March 11, 2008). In footnote 25: 25. The exclusionary rule is not contained in the Fourth Amendment and, because a Fourth Amendment violation occurs when there is an unlawful search or seizure, there is not a separate Fourth Amendment violation for the use of the fruits of that search or seizure. Arizona v. Evans, 514 U.S. 1, 10, 115 S. Ct. 1185, 1191 (1995). Other courts have held that wrongfully seized evidence may result in exclusion of the evidence. United States v. Davis, 174 F.3d 941, 942, 946 n.8 (8th Cir. 1999) (affirming the suppression of a statement because it was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, but declining to decide whether suppression was "necessarily the appropriate remedy" for such a violation as it was not addressed before the district court)...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 12, 2008 (boomark / email).