Leon good-faith exception to exclusionary rule does not apply to warrantless search conducted under administrative regulatory scheme
SEARCH & SEIZURE United States v. Herrera, No. 05-3057, ___ F.3d ___ (10th Cir. Apr. 19, 2006)(Kansas). Appeal of district court’s denial of motion to suppress drug evidence seized as result of vehicle search conducted during what state trooper thought was valid inspection conducted under Kansas administrative system for regulating commercial vehicles. HELD: (1) Because defendant’s truck was in fact not commercial vehicle subject to Kansas regulatory scheme, that scheme cannot justify state trooper’s warrantless search of defendant’s vehicle without probable cause or reasonable suspicion of criminal activity despite officer’s good-faith mistake in mis-estimating 10,000 pound vehicle’s weight by one pound, where additional one pound would have placed truck within ambit of Kansas regulatory scheme. (2) Good-faith exception to the application of exclusionary rule set out in United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (1984), does not apply to warrantless search conducted by police incident to lawful administrative or regulatory authority, even where officer makes good-faith mistake as to searched party’s membership in regulated class. Read the opinion here. |
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