Section 9.38 Exclusionary Rule

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

B. (§9.38) Exclusionary Rule

In Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961), the Supreme Court held that the exclusionary rule applies in state trials to exclude evidence obtained in violation of the constitution. In reversing its previous decision in Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U.S. 25 (1949), the Court found that the interests in deterring official misconduct, Mapp, 367 U.S. at 656, and protecting the “imperative of judicial integrity,” id. at 659, required application of the rule in state proceedings. In recent years, the Court has virtually rejected the judicial integrity rationale and has focused its continued recognition of the rule solely on deterrence. Ariz. v. Evans, 514 U.S. 1 (1995); United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 906 (1984); United States v. Janis, 428 U.S. 433, 446 (1976).

There is continuing debate regarding whether the exclusionary rule is constitutionally required. The Court characterizes exclusion not as a personal constitutional right of the defendant, but rather as a “judicially...