Opinion ID: 706029
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The impeachment exception

Text: 48 Even before the defining Mapp decision, the Court in Walder v. United States, 347 U.S. 62, 74 S.Ct. 354, 98 L.Ed. 503 (1954), created an impeachment exception to the exclusionary rule. Under Walder, illegally seized evidence may be used to impeach a defendant's testimony given on direct examination or cross-examination reasonably suggested by the direct examination. Because a defendant's right to testify does not include the right of perjury, the Court reasoned even illegally obtained evidence should be allowed to impeach testimony. Harris v. New York, 401 U.S. 222, 224-26, 91 S.Ct. 643, 645-46, 28 L.Ed.2d 1 (1971). Curiously, this exception does not extend to a defendant's witnesses. See James v. Illinois, 493 U.S. 307, 313, 110 S.Ct. 648, 652, 107 L.Ed.2d 676 (1990). The rationales given are that witnesses should be sufficiently deterred by the prospect of being prosecuted for perjury and to allow the use of illegally obtained evidence against witnesses might chill the defendant's right to present a defense. Id. at 314-316.