Tennessee law previously required that the execution of search warrants by police officers follow a certain set of simple yet strict rules. If those rules were not followed precisely, it could result in the implementation of what is known to Nashville criminal defense attorneys as the exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule provides that any
evidence which is obtained in violation of an individual’s constitutional rights is subject to being suppressed entirely and not available to prosecutors for use at a criminal trial. A new law in Tennessee, which will go into effect July 1, 2011, will loosen Tennessee’s exclusionary rule. The Exclusionary Rule Reform Act (HB 401) essentially states that if a search warrant contained errors which are the result of a ‘good faith mistake or technical violation’, and the evidence would otherwise be admissible in court and available for the prosecution in a criminal case, it will not be subject to the exclusionary rule and will not be suppressed (meaning in layman’s terms, it will not be “thrown out” of a criminal prosecution).
The degree to which this new law will have an effect on criminal cases in Tennessee remains to be seen. The myth of cases being dismissed altogether due to a technicality is not quite as simple as the myth might suggest; in fact, those technicalities are violations of your constitutional rights – some rights which are so critical, the arresting officers must explicitly inform you of those rights immediately upon arrest (See Nashville Criminal Attorney Explains Your Miranda Rights). In theory, your rights still remain and this new law does not nor do I believe is intended to take away those fundamental constitutional rights. It does however appear to loosen the foundation on which your constitutional rights stand by carving out a good faith exception to the exclusionary rule.
How does this affect my criminal case?
This new law, in all likelihood, will have little effect on most criminal cases. Legitimate search warrant issues arise in a guesstimated 2 – 3% of all criminal cases in Tennessee. It is important however that in those cases where evidence was seized as a result of a search warrant, that a criminal defense attorney examine the case to evaluate whether there is a genuine and material issue with regards to evidence obtained due to a faulty or mistake-ridden search warrant. Again, the new law does not allow any evidence to be admitted regardless of the degree of fault to which the search warrant was executed.
If you have been charged with a criminal offense, it is critical you have an experienced criminal defense attorney examine your case to determine what legal issues exist and what defenses you may have to the prosecution. If you have been charged with a crime in Nashville, contact our office for a free consultation with our criminal attorneys who have experience successfully taking to trial nearly every type of criminal offense in Tennessee.
