Phase 2 Individual Project_Criminal Investigation Essay

Phase 2 Individual Project_Criminal Investigation - Essay Example An example of a case outlining the exclusionary evidence rule is the Weeks vs. United States (Signorelli, 2010). From the case, the United States Supreme court ruled that it is a breach of the Fourth Amendment of the American constitution when a law enforcement agent seizes the property of a suspect without a warrant. The statute prohibits local law enforcement agencies from collecting evidence by unlawful means. Wetterer (1998) identifies the following as exceptions to the exclusionary rule, The doctrine of good faith observes that the evidence in question is admissible in a trial court if a law enforcement agency under a good faith took action believing that it was not a violation of the Fourth Amendment. In explaining the application of this law, Leon vs. United States of America.1984 challenges the admissibility of evidence obtained through an illegal search by law enforcement agencies (Persico, 1997). From the case, law enforcement officers in California got information about the activities of Patsy Stewart and Armando Sanchez. After investigation and surveillance, police officers identified Ricardo Castillo and Alberto Leon as accomplices in drug trafficking, and a detective sought a search warrant from a judge (Persico, 1997). The warrant in question was illegal since the police could not prove a probable cause for the warrant. However, the evidence was admissible because the police action was on the belief that they followed the law. The inevitable discovery doctrine is grounded on the belief that the evidence in question was likely to be discovered by legal means. A statute explaining this exception is the Nix vs. Williams’s case (Signorelli, 2010). In the case, the defendant killed a young girl in the state of Iowa. The defendant surrendered to law enforcement officers, and on his own plea, he was arraigned in court. The officers searched for the victim’s body, and because of heavy snow,