GÄFGEN v. GERMANY JUDGMENT 19 United States, decision of 14 January 2009, 555 US ... (2009), part II. A., with further references). The prohibition applies to information obtained from coerced confessions (see, on the issue of coercion, US Supreme Court, no. 50, Blackburn v. Alabama, decision of 11 January 1960, 361 US 199 (1960), pp. 205-07, and US Supreme Court, no. 8, Townsend v. Sain, decision of 18 March 1963, 372 US 293 (1963), pp. 293 and 307-09), meaning that if the confession leads to additional evidence, such evidence is also inadmissible in court in addition to the confession itself (compare Nix, cited above, p. 441, and Segura, cited above, p. 804). The evidence is to be excluded, however, only if the illegality is the proximate cause of the discovery of the evidence. In other words, evidence will be excluded if it can be shown that “but for” the illegal conduct it would not have been found. The exclusionary rule does not apply where the connection between the illegal police conduct and the discovery of the evidence is so remote as to dissipate the taint. This is the case, for example, where the police relied on an independent source to find the evidence (see Nix, cited above, pp. 441-44, and Segura, cited above, pp. 796-97, 804-05 and 815, with further references) or where the evidence would ultimately or inevitably have been discovered even had no violation of any constitutional provision taken place (see Nix, cited above, pp. 441-44). 74. The exclusionary rule is also applied in other jurisdictions. The Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa found in its recent judgment of 10 April 2008 in the case of Mthembu v. The State, case no. 379/2007, [2008] ZASCA 51 as follows: “Summary: The evidence of an accomplice extracted through torture (including real evidence derived from it) is inadmissible ... ... 33. ... The Hilux and the metal box were real evidence critical to the State’s case against the appellant on the robbery counts. Ordinarily, as I have mentioned, such evidence would not be excluded because it exists independently of any constitutional violation. But these discoveries were made as [a] result of the police having tortured Ramseroop. There is no suggestion that the discoveries would have been made in any event. If they had the outcome of this case might have been different. 34. Ramseroop made his statement to the police immediately after the metal box was discovered at his home following his torture. That his subsequent testimony was given apparently voluntarily does not detract from the fact that the information contained in that statement pertaining to the Hilux and metal box was extracted through torture. ... therefore, there is an inextricable link between his torture and the nature of the evidence that was tendered in court. The torture has stained the evidence irredeemably. ...

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents