Opinion ID: 1184098
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether Court Erred in Overruling Objection to Evidence Obtained at the Haydel Home.

Text: (11) At the trial defense counsel moved to suppress any evidence which was acquired as a result of that alleged consent to search, which in fact was not voluntary and directed the court's attention to the evidence seized at the Haydel home. The court denied the motion, and defendants argue on appeal that the court thereby erred. The People urge that the court's ruling was proper because (1) the store's security officers were not subject to the commands of the Fourth Amendment and (2) the consent to search was voluntary. As we have seen, the People's second argument lacks merit. We need not consider the People's first argument, since, as we shall see, a rule not based on the Fourth Amendment barred the admission of the evidence. Evidence that is the fruit of an involuntary confession is inadmissible. ( People v. Ditson, 57 Cal.2d 415, 439 [20 Cal. Rptr. 165, 369 P.2d 714]; cf. Harrison v. United States, 392 U.S. 219, 221 et seq. [20 L.Ed.2d 1047, 1050 et seq., 88 S.Ct. 2008]; People v. Schader, 71 Cal.2d 761, 778-779 [80 Cal. Rptr. 1, 457 P.2d 841].) [6] Here it appears that the evidence obtained at the Haydel home was the product of the second statement, which was involuntarily made. Furthermore, no claim is made, nor does it appear, that the evidence obtained at the home would have been otherwise discovered from information already in the possession of the officers or independently acquired ( People v. Ditson, supra, pp. 443-444; cf. People v. Schader, supra, p. 779; see Lockridge v. Superior Court, 3 Cal.3d 166, 170 [89 Cal. Rptr. 731, 474 P.2d 683]), or that the connection between the illegal statement and the evidence seized at the home had `become so attenuated as to dissipate the taint.' ( Wong Sun v. United States ... 371 U.S. 471, 487....) (See People v. Schader, supra, p. 779.) Accordingly, the court erred in admitting the evidence obtained at the home.