Criminal Law in Bergen County: The Exclusionary Rule and The Impeachment Exception

CRIMINAL LAW IN BERGEN COUNTY:

THE EXCLUSIONARY RULE AND THE IMPEACHMENT EXCEPTION

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Earlier this week, I wrote about the impeachment exception to the Exclusionary Rule. This exception will allow the government to impugn the credibility of a defendant with evidence previously suppressed. Like the Exclusionary Rule, the impeachment exception is not absolute in it terms.

Specifically, if the suppressed statement is not trustworthy because it was not given freely or voluntarily, the exception will not apply. Some of the factors to be used by the court to test the trustworthiness of the statement is the defendant's age, health, intelligence, the length and nature of the interrogation, the use of physical force or threats of force, the defendant's mental fatigue and advise given as to defendant's constitutional rights, i.e. Miranda Warning.

 Before the exception can be used at trial, the government must inform the defendant of its intention to use the suppressed evidence to impeach. At that point, the trial court will be required to conduct a plenary hearing to determine the voluntariness of the statement.