Murray v. United States
United States Supreme Court
487 U.S. 533 (1988)
Federal agents illegally entered a warehouse under surveillance and saw burlap-wrapped bales inside before leaving without touching anything and keeping the warehouse under watch while a warrant was obtained; the warrant application never mentioned the earlier illegal entry or anything learned from it, and agents later reentered under the warrant and seized marijuana-filled bales. Murray moved to suppress the evidence, arguing the warrant was tainted by the earlier illegal entry; the district court denied the motion and the appellate court affirmed, before the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether the independent-source doctrine applies if police officers were subjectively motivated to obtain a search warrant by what they learned during an original warrantless search of the premises, even if the warrant application does not rely on information gained during the original search.