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  1. #1
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    Default Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply to a Civil Offense

    My question involves court procedures for the state of: Massachusetts.

    This law makes it a civil offense to possess less than an ounce of marijuana.

    http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/Ge...94C/Section32L

    I have been charged with violating this statue. My question is whether the exclusionary rule applies to the Marijuana taken, given that the stop and search had no basis and violated my Fourth Amendment rights.

    If I can demonstrate that the marijuana is fruit of the poisonous tree, will it be suppressed?

    Thank you.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply to a Civil Offense

    If you can demostrate that the stop and search had no basis and violated your Fourth Amendment rights, then the evidence found by that search should be suppressed.

    However, your idea of "search had no basis" may differ from what the court thinks on that issue. It can be tricky. For example, sometimes it is legal for the police to stop and frisk you when you have done absolutely nothing wrong. If such a frisk reveals contraband, that contraband is admissable.

    If you would like to share the circumstances of the stop with us, with might be able to offer some insight.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply to a Civil Offense

    The 4th AM's ER applies here, the classification of the offense has no bearing if the stop (seizure) was UNconstitutional.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply to a Civil Offense

    Quote Quoting BOR
    The 4th AM's [Exclusionary Rule] applies here, the classification of the offense has no bearing if the stop (seizure) was UNconstitutional.
    You are repeating part of what I said.

    Do you understand the other part - that whether a frisk is legal depends on the nature of the stop?

    For example, if the police stop you for a broken tail light (a catch and release offense), and see no contraband or weapons in plain sight, then it is illegal for them to extract you from your vehicle and frisk you, regardless of how rude or mouthy you may be. On the other hand, if the police stop you after a high speed chase away from the scene of an armed robbery, the nature of that stop is that you may well be armed, and the police are entitled to frisk you, even if the speeding is only a catch and release offense.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply to a Civil Offense

    Thanks for the reply.

    It was my understanding that the exclusionary rule applied to criminal cases only. I just don't know if a civil case brought by the government is still considered civil or criminal.

    So you're saying evidence may be suppressed under the ER for a civil offense?

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply to a Civil Offense

    Quote Quoting mjones77
    So you're saying evidence may be suppressed under the ER for a civil offense?
    Everything I've seen says that the Exclusionary Rule applies in a civil offense prosecuted by the government, in contrast to a civil offense (such as a tort) brought by a private person.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply to a Civil Offense

    Quote Quoting mjones77
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    Thanks for the reply.

    It was my understanding that the exclusionary rule applied to criminal cases only. I just don't know if a civil case brought by the government is still considered civil or criminal.

    So you're saying evidence may be suppressed under the ER for a civil offense?
    We can safely say that such a charge, at minimum, is quasi-criminal in nature, as one argument.

    Firstly though, this is not a Civil case, it is a charge brought by the govt., for a defendant to answer, that still is afforded Due Process under the 14th AM.


    Simply calling an "offense" an infraction or civil in nature, no jail time (criminal), does not mean the govt. can circumvent the 4th AM.

    I will try to give an example. A person is stopped in an automobile to see if he has weed on him, even though it is an infraction. The officer has no probable cause or reasonable suspicion to effect the stop. His reasoning is, if he finds any it can still be introduced at trial since the charge is non criminal in nature. Not so.

    An officer could pull over any person he wants, any time, and simply say he is looking for weed.

    Now, since this is not a so called "criminal trial", the Unconstitutional seizure would have no bearing, right? Not true.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply to a Civil Offense

    Quote Quoting BOR
    Firstly though, this is not a Civil case, it is a charge brought by the govt., for a defendant to answer, that still is afforded Due Process under the 14th AM.
    That's what I had always thought, too. But after commenting in some threads on speeding tickets in the State of Washington, and reading cases cited by blewis, it is clear that the State of Washington legislature and courts regard speeding tickets as "civil" and that only some Due Process rights are honored. For example, a speeding ticket defendant can initiate discovery for all evidence that will be used against him, but Washington law allows the prosecution to not provide evidence that a radar device was working and calibrated correctly. Washington probably has some court case where that was challenged and discussed, but I have not found it yet.

    This is in direct contrast to California, where speeding tickets (under 100 mph) are classified as infractions, which differ from misdemeanors mainly that only a fine may be levied, no jury may be called, and no public defender will be provided, but whose defendants otherwise are afforded all the privileges of criminal defendants.

    I do know that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that certain parts of the Bill of Rights are not imposed on the states by the 14th Amendment, such as that part of the 5th Amendment that says, "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury". (Fortunately, all the rest of it has been vigorously imposed on the states by the U.S. Supreme Court, even though they have decried the practice of some municipalities to use the right of eminent domain to seize private property and sell/give it to a private company under the theory that increased jobs or tax revenues would benefit the municipality more than the original ownership.)

    The point of the Exclusionary Rule is to deter police and government agents from regularly volating a person's constitutional rights. So in INS v. Lopez-Mendoza (1984), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Exclusionary Rule does not apply to "civil administrative deportation hearings, solely because the high social costs and limited deterrent value of the exclusionary rule did not warrant its application in that context"

    But from the tone of that and other cases, it appears that evidence found by police or government agents by intentionally or negligently violating civil rights should be suppressed, regardless of whether the civil offense is prosecuted by the government or a private party. Of course, in the case of a private party, it is less likely that evidence would be gathered by the government.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply to a Civil Offense

    Ahhhhh I love the internet, there's an expert on everything!

    So, part two to my question: Should I treat this like a criminal case, where I submit a motion to suppress at the hearing?

    Long story short, the police made a stop without valid PC, and abused the breadth of a terry frisk to include all the compartments of my unoccupied vehicle. I've been down this road on a criminal case, (worked out great, too), but I have not yet had the opportunity to contest a civil offense, and I guess I'm just confused about the differences.

    Sorry for the questions, I'm just a young punk who can't afford a lawyer...

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Does the Exclusionary Rule Apply to a Civil Offense

    Quote Quoting mjones77
    Should I treat this like a criminal case, where I submit a motion to suppress at the hearing?
    Yes, assuming you can convince the judge or jury that your Fourth Amendment rights were violated.

    However, it is not at all clear to me that the stop and search violated your Fourth Amendment rights ...

    the police made a stop without valid PC
    ... because you think the police police need valid probable cause to stop you.

    They do not. They only need reasonable and articulable suspicion of criminal activity, or a suspicionless constitutional checkpoint.

    Since you have not shared any of the details of the stop, we cannot offer any opinion on what grounds you might argue for an unconstitutional stop.

    I'm just a young punk who can't afford a lawyer...
    You sound like a guy getting a great education on the legal process!

    I found that defending myself against charges having a penalty of a small fine and no jail time is a great way to learn about the legal process. Some say, "A person who defends himself has a fool for a client". But I say, "Better a fool for a client than a fool for a lawyer!"

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