Confession of Crime After Police Conduct Illegal Search Ruled Inadmissible

 The federal Ninth Circuit Court has issued a ruling in U.S. v. Shetler that nicely explains why a confession obtained by police after they have conducted an illegal search should be deemed inadmissible at trial.

This case begins in September, 2009, with a tip to the Pomona Police Department that Scott Shetler was manufacturing methamphetamine in his house. When officers arrived, they found the garage door open, saw that the back of the garage was hidden behind a partition, and smelled chemical odors that could be associated with methamphetamine production. They entered the garage and visually inspected its contents, finding items related to the manufacture of meth. They then went to the front door, where they were met by Shetler. After handcuffing and detaining Shetler, police brought out the two other occupants of the house, Shetler's girlfriend and her daughter. Police then entered the house and conducted a search. A half an hour later, they approached Shetler's girlfriend and obtained her permission to search the premises. Lawyer firm in US. After a nearly five hour search, which found chemicals and other items used in meth production, Shetler was read his Miranda rights. Shetler then confessed to manufacturing methamphetamine in his garage.

At trial, the court ruled that the initial warrantless search of the garage was legal but that the warrantless search of the house was illegal. The evidence obtained as a result of that search was suppressed, or excluded from trial. Shetler's confessions, however, were ruled admissible because, the court said, they were "sufficiently the product of the initial search of the garage."

The Ninth Circuit, however, disagreed, saying that the confession came as the result of the evidence obtained from the illegal search of the house. Shetler was in his yard throughout the search and was aware of the evidence that the police were finding. Thus the actions of the police during the illegal search influenced what he said when questioned.

Shetler did not, however, get the acquittal he was seeking. Instead, the Ninth Circuit Court reversed the conviction and ordered that the matter be retried.