 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Perry v. State12/10/1999
d those of our sister states cannot be justified. The overriding public policy must . . . favor the interest of the public by fostering its protection through the detection and apprehension of those who persist in defying our laws. This is particularly true in the case of major interstate drug dealers whose activities wreck the lives of so many people in this country today. We certainly must extend to all people the protection of constitutional safeguards, but to extend such protection, on the instant facts, would be an unwarranted extension allowing procedure to emerge victorious over Justice. Id. at 460-61, 369 A.2d at 494. The same can be said with regard to tapes legally obtained in California used in a Maryland court in a case of contract murder by a Michigan resident. Suppressing such evidence does not promote the reasoning behind the deterrence factor.
In Lucas, 372 N.W.2d 731, a case strikingly similar to the case sub judice, the Supreme Court of Minnesota ruled on the admissibility of wiretaps obtained out-of-state in a "killing for insurance" scheme. The court stated, as to taped conversations, that "where the seizure of evidence was valid under the law of the place where the search occurred but where it would be regarded as unlawful if it had occurred in the forum state[,] . . . the forum state should not suppress it . . . ." Id. at 736-37.
Another factually similar contract murder case was decided by the Supreme Court of Florida in Echols v. State, 484 So. 2d 568 (Fla. 1985). In that case, the defendant was contracted by Alex Dragovich to murder Waldamar Baskovich to get control of the victim's estate. The murder occurred in Clearwater, Florida; however, a bulk of the investigation took place in Gary, Indiana. In Indiana, a police informant wore a wire with a small hidden tape recorder and questioned Echols about the murder in Florida. Echols boastfully responded that he had participated in the murder. When Florida prosecutors attempted to use the taped conversation against Echols, he argued that although the tape would be admissible under Indiana law, Florida law, the law of the forum, should apply, which would render the tape inadmissible.
The Florida Supreme Court disagreed and held that:
Florida's interests are served by excluding relevant evidence which was lawfully obtained in Indiana in conformity with the United States Constitution and Indiana law. The primary purpose of the exclusionary rule is to deter future official police misconduct. We do not believe exclusion of the evidence would have any discernable effect on police officers of other states who conduct investigations in accordance with the laws of their state and of the United States Constitution. Further, we do not believe that the interest of Florida is served by imperially attempting to require that out-of-state police officials follow Florida law, and not the law of the situs, when they are requested to cooperate with Florida officials in investigating crimes committed in Florida. Id. at 571-72 (emphasis added) (citations omitted).
Perry was a resident of Detroit, Michigan; Horn was then residing in Los Angeles, California. There was substantial, albeit circumstantial, evidence that the conspiracy to murder Horn's son and wife was conceived in substantial part while the co-conspirators were in Michigan and California. While in Michigan, Horn complained to a cousin, who was a friend of Perry's, about his problems with his relationship with Mildred Horn. The cousin told him of Perry and assisted Horn in contacting Perry. After the murders, the cousin in Michigan continued to facilitate the relationship between Perry and Horn. Before and after the murders, there were numerous
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Maryland Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|