Opinion ID: 547526
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: admission of evidence obtained from the unlawful search

Text: WAS NOT HARMLESS ERROR 58 In determining whether a constitutional error was harmless, the Supreme Court stated that  '[t]he question is whether there is a reasonable possibility that the evidence complained of might have contributed to the conviction.'  Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 23, 87 S.Ct. 824, 827, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967) (quoting Fahy v. Connecticut, 375 U.S. 85, 86-87, 84 S.Ct. 229, 230, 11 L.Ed.2d 171 (1963)). The government bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the admission of the evidence recovered from the search was harmless. See id. 386 U.S. at 24, 87 S.Ct. at 828; United States v. Napue, 834 F.2d 1311, 1328 (7th Cir.1987). 59 There is no doubt that in this case there is a reasonable probability that the evidence obtained in the search of the apartment might have contributed to the conviction. The government characterized the money wrappers as its favorite piece of evidence because they were the type of money strips that [were] used in the savings and loan that was robbed. The .44 caliber magazine clip, which would only fit the .44 caliber magnum semi-automatic Desert Eagle weapon found in the hotel room used by Towns's alleged co-conspirators, undoubtedly provided a formidable link between Towns and his purported cohorts. The government's insistent statement to the jury that the recovered sunglasses were the same sunglasses that one of the men in the surveillance photographs was wearing emphasized the incriminating nature of the recovered evidence. In a case where none of the bank employees could identify the defendant and none of his purported colleagues testified as to Towns's involvement in the robbery, the incriminating nature of the items found in Cecile Jackson's apartment, as well as their importance to the government's case, is enhanced. We therefore find that there is a reasonable probability that the items recovered during the search of Cecile Jackson's apartment contributed to Towns's conviction and that Towns is entitled to a new trial.