Opinion ID: 2973671
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: United States v. O’Neal

Text: Another Eighth Circuit case has undermined and limited the holdings in White and its progeny. In United States v. O’Neal, 17 F.3d 239 (8th Cir. 1994), the court again addressed a Terry stop that led to a warrant to search the defendant’s bag. A reviewing court later determined that the detention of the bag was based on less than reasonable suspicion. Here, the court considered the purposes of Leon, and noted that “[n]either White nor Leon, however, are unqualified in their application.” Id. at 242 n.6. Bringing its decisions closer in line with the courts reviewed above — though not entirely — the Eighth Circuit held that “[i]f the method by which evidence supporting a search warrant is seized is clearly illegal, then even under Leon . . . evidence obtained under the resulting warrant should be excluded.” Id. (emphasis added). The court also noted that “[i]f clearly illegal police behavior can be sanitized by the issuance of a search warrant, then there will be no deterrence, and the protective aims of the exclusionary rule will be severely impaired, if not eliminated.” Id.