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Military Rule of Evidence 311 - Illegal Searches and Seizures

The law involving illegal obtained evidence general relates to two issues - whether the search and seizure were legal under the 4th Amendment to the Constitution and whether the evidence is admissible.

​The Military Rules of Evidence address searches and seizures in Military Rule of Evidence 311.

​Illegally obtained evidence is challenged in court through a motion to suppress or other objections.

​Military Rule of Evidence 311 (d) requires counsel to move for the suppression of illegally obtained evidence before entering a plea. 

​The burden of proof, however, is on the prosecutor to show that the evidence was obtained legally and is admissible.

​Unfortunately, the 4th Amendment has been heavily diluted by the appellate courts.  There are many exceptions to the 4th Amendment.  Some of those  exceptions include:

​-The Good Faith Exception - the idea that otherwise illegally obtained evidence is admissible if the government was acting in good faith when they obtained the evidence.  The classic example is when law enforcement conducts a search based on information that is later determined to be incorrect.

​-The Inevitable Discovery Exception - this kind of evidence is admissible if the government can show that they would have eventually discovered the evidence through lawful means.

​-The Emergency / Hot Pursuit Exception - permits the admissibility of evidence obtained while law enforcement discovers the evidence during an emergency or in hot pursuit of a subject.

​Often issues of illegal searches and seizures boils down to whether the service member had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the place searched.

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  • Military Failed Drug Test
  • Discharge Review Board Lawyer
  • Administrative Separation Board Lawyer
  • Records Corrections
    • Reprimand Appeals
    • Evaluation Report Appeals
    • Qualitative Management Program Cases
    • Titling Actions
    • Cadet and Midshipmen Misconduct
  • Notable Cases
    • My Lai
    • Abu Ghraib
    • Haditha
    • Maywand District Murders
    • US v Scott
    • MARSOC
  • Our Team
    • Gary Myers
    • Daniel Conway
    • Brian Pristera
    • Lauren Johnson-Naumann
    • Joseph Galli
    • Matthew Flynn
  • Videos
  • Military Sexual Assault Lawyer - Article 120, UCMJ