While police officers who overheard a pretrial consultation
between a suspect and his lawyer were definitely in the wrong, the total
suppression of all the officers’ testimony in the case may not be necessary,
the Indiana Supreme Court ruled, according to the Indiana Lawyer.
The body of Brian Taylor’s girlfriend, Simone Bush, was found on March 14, 2014, just a few hours after Taylor was dropped off at a police station. Taylor’s attorney arrived shortly thereafter and began meeting with his client. Police told the attorney to flip a switch if he didn’t want the police listening to his conversation, but when he did he piped his conversation with his client into another room where many officers were listening. They heard the location of a handgun, among other details. Two days later, Taylor was charged with murder.
A few days later, LaPorte County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Robert Neary told one of Taylor’s attorneys about the eavesdropping. The trial court held a suppression hearing, and the officers who overheard the conversation invoked their Fifth Amendment rights. The trial court ordered blanket suppression of their testimony but the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed in a split decision. The Supreme Court granted transfer.
The Indiana Supreme Court was disappointed in the officers’ conduct. “The right to counsel would be a charade unless it guarantees privacy in those consultations, because a suspect’s candor with counsel cannot come at the price of self-incrimination. We would have hoped that principle too obvious to mention.”
The body of Brian Taylor’s girlfriend, Simone Bush, was found on March 14, 2014, just a few hours after Taylor was dropped off at a police station. Taylor’s attorney arrived shortly thereafter and began meeting with his client. Police told the attorney to flip a switch if he didn’t want the police listening to his conversation, but when he did he piped his conversation with his client into another room where many officers were listening. They heard the location of a handgun, among other details. Two days later, Taylor was charged with murder.
A few days later, LaPorte County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Robert Neary told one of Taylor’s attorneys about the eavesdropping. The trial court held a suppression hearing, and the officers who overheard the conversation invoked their Fifth Amendment rights. The trial court ordered blanket suppression of their testimony but the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed in a split decision. The Supreme Court granted transfer.
The Indiana Supreme Court was disappointed in the officers’ conduct. “The right to counsel would be a charade unless it guarantees privacy in those consultations, because a suspect’s candor with counsel cannot come at the price of self-incrimination. We would have hoped that principle too obvious to mention.”
“More than one law enforcement official flagrantly and
unconscionable disregarded that safeguard – eavesdropping on privileged
attorney-client communications while turning a deaf ear to the Constitutions
they swore to uphold. Those officers have not only violated Taylor’s
constitutional rights to counsel but have also betrayed public trust.”
However, the court said excluding all testimony from the officers goes too far. “Even flagrant constitutional violations, though presumptively prejudicial, are not necessarily so, as illustrated by the trial court’s unchallenged ‘independent source’ findings as to many of the State’s exhibits.”
To read more CLICK HERE
However, the court said excluding all testimony from the officers goes too far. “Even flagrant constitutional violations, though presumptively prejudicial, are not necessarily so, as illustrated by the trial court’s unchallenged ‘independent source’ findings as to many of the State’s exhibits.”
To read more CLICK HERE
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