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Search and Seizure – Exclusionary rule – good faith exception

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 6, 2015//

Search and Seizure – Exclusionary rule – good faith exception

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 6, 2015//

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Wisconsin Supreme Court

Criminal

Search and Seizure – Exclusionary rule – good faith exception

Even if a warrant was based on information gained from a prior illegal search, the good faith exception applies.

“Like the court of appeals, we resolve this case with a straight-forward application of our good faith jurisprudence governing police reliance on a warrant. It provides that the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies to evidence obtained in objectively reasonable reliance on a search warrant issued by a detached and neutral magistrate that is ultimately found to be defective. State v. Eason, 2001 WI 98, ¶3, 245 Wis. 2d 206, 629 N.W.2d 625. Reliance on a warrant is objectively reasonable when: the warrant was preceded by a substantial investigation, the affidavit supporting the warrant was reviewed by either a police officer trained and knowledgeable in the requirements of probable cause and reasonable suspicion, or a knowledgeable government attorney, and a reasonably well-trained officer would not have known that the search was illegal despite the magistrate’s authorization. Id.”

“In this case we determine that the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies because the evidence Scull seeks to suppress was obtained in objectively reasonable reliance on a warrant issued by a detached and neutral magistrate. Accordingly, we conclude that the evidence should not be suppressed and affirm the court of appeals.”

Affirmed.

2011AP2956-CR State v. Scull

Bradley, J.

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