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Caleb Haverstick
"Wolf v. Colorado." Casebriefs Wolf v Colorado Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. <http://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/criminal-procedure/criminal-procedure-keyed-to-saltzburg/searches-and-seizures-of-persons-and-things/wolf-v-colorado-3/>.
The Colorado Supreme Court confirmed the conviction of Wolf in a 6-3 majority vote. They stated that the Fourteenth Amendment did not specifically state that illlegally obtained evidence would not be permissable in the state courts.
This case was held between Julius A. Wolf (the petitioner) and the state of Colorado (the respondant) in 1949. Prior to this court case, Julius Wolf and two other associates, were convicted in a state court of conspiring to perform an abortion. The evidence that was used in this court case was claimed to be obtained in a way that violated the search and seizure clause in the Fourth Amendment. Apparantly the police broke into Dr. Wolf's apartment and seized a list of patient names illegally.
This case essentially established the principle that it was permitable to use illegally seized evidence in criminal trials in the states. In this case, the Court also stated that there are other ways to deter illegal search and seizures that would not fall under the standards of the Due Process Clause apart from exculding illegally seized evidence.
Following this, the police called the patients and coaxed them into giving statements regarding illegal abortions that Wolf had performed with them. Wolf appealed this case on the grounds that the evidence that was obtained as a part of illegal search and seizure, should not be permitted in court.
Under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, are the states legally required to exclude evidence that is illegally obtained?