Arizona Laws 13-3925. Unlawful search or seizure; admissibility of evidence; definitions
A. Any evidence that is seized pursuant to a search warrant shall not be suppressed as a result of a violation of this chapter except as required by the United States Constitution and the constitution of this state.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 13-3925
- Conduct: means an act or omission and its accompanying culpable mental state. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Government: means the state, any political subdivision of the state or any department, agency, board, commission, institution or governmental instrumentality of or within the state or political subdivision. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Peace officer: means any person vested by law with a duty to maintain public order and make arrests and includes a constable. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
- Unlawful: means contrary to law or, where the context so requires, not allowed by law. See Arizona Laws 13-105
B. If a party in a criminal proceeding seeks to exclude evidence from the trier of fact because of the conduct of a peace officer in obtaining the evidence, the proponent of the evidence may urge that the peace officer’s conduct was taken in a reasonable, good faith belief that the conduct was proper and that the evidence discovered should not be kept from the trier of fact if otherwise admissible.
C. The trial court shall not suppress evidence that is otherwise admissible in a criminal proceeding if the court determines that the evidence was seized by a peace officer as a result of a good faith mistake or technical violation.
D. This section does not limit the enforcement of any appropriate civil remedy or criminal penalty in actions pursuant to other provisions of law against any individual or government entity found to have conducted an unreasonable search or seizure.
E. This section does not apply to unlawful electronic eavesdropping or wiretapping.
F. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Good faith mistake" means a reasonable judgmental error concerning the existence of facts that if true would be sufficient to constitute probable cause.
2. "Technical violation" means a reasonable good faith reliance on:
(a) A statute that is subsequently ruled unconstitutional.
(b) A warrant that is later invalidated due to a good faith mistake.
(c) A controlling court precedent that is later overruled, unless the court overruling the precedent orders the new precedent to be applied retroactively.