EVIDENCE LAW

Daubert Standard

fruit of the poisonous tree

hearsay

Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of whatever it asserts, which is then offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter. The problem with hearsay is that when the person being quoted is not present, it becomes impossible to establish credibility. As a result, hearsay evidence is generally not admissible in court.

Hudson v. Michigan

Issues

The Supreme Court will resolve conflicting circuit court decisions regarding whether or not evidence is subject to suppression when seized by officials violating the Fourth Amendment “knock-and-announce” rule. If the evidence discovered through a knock-and-announce violation would have been discovered even if the violation had not occurred, then should the evidence be admissible?

 

According to the Fourth Amendment knock-and-announce rule, when police officers enter a person’s home, they must make their presence known to the occupants and wait a reasonable amount of time before entering. The courts are split as to whether a knock-and-announce violation makes evidence found after the violation excludable. Evidence which the officers would have inevitably discovered, however, is not normally excluded by courts. In Hudson v. Michigan (04-1360), Petitioner Hudson contends that the police’s knock-and-announce violation produced evidence resulting from an unreasonable entry under the Fourth Amendment and should, therefore, be suppressed.  Respondent  in this case, the state of Michigan, has two arguments at its disposal. First, they can argue that the police would have inevitably discovered the evidence regardless of the rule, and thus the evidence is not excludable because of the inevitable discovery doctrine exception. Second, they can argue that there is no causation between the entry violation and the seizure, meaning that the evidence is not the fruit of the Fourth Amendment violation and hence should not be excluded. Respondent further argues that excluding reliable evidence because of a mistake in the timing of entry would be unjustly harsh and produce an undue burden on society. The Supreme Court’s resolution of the current circuit court split will have powerful effects on law enforcement and the continued efficacy of the knock-and-announce rule. 

Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties

Does the inevitable discovery doctrine create a per se exception to the exclusionary rule for evidence seized after a Fourth Amendment “knock and announce” violation, as the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court have held, or is evidence subject to suppression after such violations, as the 6th and 8th Circuits, the Arkansas Supreme Court and the Maryland Court of Appeals have held?

On August 27, 1998, seven police officers went to Petitioner Booker T. Hudson’s (“Hudson”) Detroit, Michigan home to execute a search warrant. Hudson, Booker v. Michigan, 2005, Medill School of Journalism, at<http://docket.medill.northwestern.edu/archives/002753.php>. Before entering Hudson’s home, the officers announced their presence and, according to one of the officers present, waited three to five seconds before forcibly entering Hudson’s home. Hudson, Booker v.

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