Heien v. North Carolina was argued on October 6, 2014 and decided on December 15, 2014.
This case is about what happens when a police officer mistakenly
pulls a car over and discovers drugs in the car. Should the evidence be
used against the accused at trial, or excluded from trial because of the
officer’s mistake?
Case Summary
- Heien v. North Carolina (Note: you will be prompted to create a Street Law store web account in order to download this free case summary).
Case Briefs
Amici
Both the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Rutherford Institute filed
amicus briefs in this case. You could assign some students to research
those groups’ interests and prepare a brief for the Court from one
interest group’s perspective. These groups’ briefs are available on SCOTUSblog’s case page.
Oral Argument
Decision
Legal/Content Background
Heien v. North Carolina
is a Fourth Amendment case. It provides a venue for exploring
Americans’ rights when it comes to vehicle stops and searches, and a way
to teach about the exclusionary rule. Mapp v. Ohio, which established the exclusionary rule, is a good background case to teach first.
LandmarkCases.org
Fourth Amendment Vehicle Cases
(Note: you will be prompted to create a Street Law store web account in order to download these free case summaries.)