Lead Opinion
delivered the opinion of the court:
The State appeals from the trial court’s order granting the motion of defendant, Rosie L. McGee, to suppress the results of a blood-alcohol test taken pursuant to section 11—501.6(a) of the Illinois Vehicle Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 95½, par. 11—501.6(a) (now 625 ILCS 5/11—501.6(a) (West 1992))). The statute was later declared facially unconstitutional in King v. Ryan (1992),
We sympathize with the legislature’s attempt to facilitate the identification and prosecution of drunk drivers. We empathize with law enforcement officers who have the difficult task of preserving and protecting society while honoring their oath of office to support the Illinois Constitution. Nevertheless, we affirm.
In excluding the evidence, the circuit court relied on People v. Bessler (1989),
The State invites us to reexamine the purposes of the exclusionary rule, to abrogate or limit Bessler, and to extend the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule in this case. We decline to extend the good-faith exception articulated in Krull and considered in Bessler, and we hold that it should not be applied here by this court because such further application of the exception would violate the Illinois Constitution.
According to the undisputed facts found in the common-law record, on December 6, 1991, defendant was involved in a two-car accident in Aurora, Illinois. The investigating officer requested that defendant take a blood-alcohol test pursuant to section 11—501.6(a) of the Illinois Vehicle Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 95½, par. 11—501.6(a) (now 625 ILCS 5/11—501.6(a) (West 1992))), later declared facially unconstitutional. The statute provided that the driver of a motor vehicle be deemed to have given consent to be tested for alcohol or other drugs in his or her blood if there was "probable cause to believe that such person was the driver at fault, in whole or in part, for a motor vehicle accident which resulted in the death or personal injury of any person.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 95½, par. 11—501.6(a) (now 625 ILCS 5/11—501.6(a) (West 1992)).) That provision did not require particularized probable cause that the driver was driving under the influence or that the intoxication have a sufficient nexus to an offense so as to permit the warrantless testing of a defendant. (Lukach,
A few months after the accident, defendant was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. On March 18, 1993, defendant filed her motion to suppress evidence, asserting that the testing was an unreasonable search under the Federal and State Constitutions. (U.S. Const., amend. IV; Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 6.) Defendant relied on King and Bessler. The State never contended that probable cause existed to test defendant, but rather argued that Krull’s good-faith exception to the Federal, fourth-amendment-based exclusionary rule applied. There was no evidentiary hearing. Based on the briefs and arguments of the parties, the court granted defendant’s motion as a matter of law, finding Bessler controlling. We review this case de nova. People v. Mourecek (1991),
In United States v. Leon, the United States Supreme Court first recognized a good-faith exception to the fourth amendment exclusionary rule which permits the use of evidence obtained by officers acting in objectively reasonable or good-faith reliance on a search warrant issued by a detached and neutral magistrate, but ultimately found to be unsupported by probable cause. This limited exception to the exclusionary rule was expressly created for searches conducted pursuant to a warrant and was not to be applied, for example, where the magistrate wholly abandoned his judicial role, or where a warrant was so lacking in indicia of probable cause or so facially deficient that the officer could not reasonably rely on it. Leon,
In Illinois v. Krull (
In reaching this result, the Court noted that the exclusionary rule operates as a judicially created remedy designed to safeguard fourth amendment rights generally through its deterrent effect rather than as a personal constitutional right of the aggrieved party; the rule’s primary purpose ostensibly is to deter future unlawful police activity and was limited to situations in which its remedial purpose would be effectively advanced. The Court did not believe the exclusionary rule would deter either legislators from enacting unconstitutional laws, or police officers acting in good faith, but postulated that any incremental deterrent benefit must be weighed against the substantial social costs of the rule. Krull,
The Court allowed for two rather cryptic and difficult "tests” or "exceptions to the exception” to determine when a statute cannot support an officer’s objectively reasonable reliance on it. The exception would not apply (1) if, in passing the statute, the legislature wholly abandoned its responsibility to enact constitutional laws, or (2) if an officer relied upon a statute whose provisions were such that a reasonable officer should have known that the statute was unconstitutional. Krull,
In Bessler, this court was asked to apply the Krull good-faith exception to a warrantless administrative inspection of a private residence under a municipal ordinance authorizing housing inspectors to inspect premises for code violations. When an inspector accompanied by the police examined the home, evidence of unlawful possession of weapons and cannabis was found. This court found that Krull was distinguishable on its facts as it extended the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule only to a warrantless administrative search of a heavily regulated business. The court found the Krull exception inapplicable to the warrantless inspection of a private home because of the greater expectation of privacy an individual has in his home over that of an owner of commercial property. We believe the court correctly declined to apply the Krull exception, leaving it to a higher court to do so.
In declining to extend Krull beyond its facts, the Bessler court was well aware that the courts of Illinois had yet to expressly extend the Leon good-faith exception to warrantless searches. (See People v. Madison (1988),
Here, defendant had perhaps the highest expectation of personal privacy in the integrity of her own body; absent a warrant or probable cause and exigent circumstances, we are loathe to apply the Krull exception in the face of an intrusion of this magnitude without further direction from our supreme court. (See King,
The good-faith exception has been severely criticized by respected legal scholars (see, e.g., LaFave, "The Seductive Call of Expediency”: United States v. Leon, Its Rationale and Ramifications, 1994 U.Ill. L. Rev. 895). It has also been rejected by a growing chorus of judicial authorities of first rank holding that the exception contravenes their respective State constitutions on various grounds. See State v. Marsala (1990),
Krull's 5 to 4 decision to extend the good-faith exception to a warrantless search pursuant to a statute later found unconstitutional, we believe, makes the good-faith exception even more untenable. (See 1 W. LaFave, Search & Seizure § 1.3(h) (2d ed. Supp. 1994); Krull,
Justice O’Connor’s dissent clearly demonstrated the fatal flaws in the majority view. First, there was a powerful historic basis for excluding evidence resulting from searches authorized by an unconstitutional statute, and the fourth amendment was a response to ancient legislation authorizing indiscriminate general searches by writ of assistance; the exclusionary rule had been regularly applied to suppress evidence gathered under statutes authorizing unreasonable searches (e.g., Ybarra v. Illinois (1979),
"The judicial role is particularized, fact-specific and nonpolitical. Judicial authorization of a particular search does not threaten the liberty of everyone, but rather authorizes a single search under particular circumstances. The legislative act, on the other hand, sweeps broadly, authorizing whole classes of searches, without any particularized showing. *** Certainly the latter poses a greater threat to liberty.” (Krull,480 U.S. at 365 ,94 L. Ed. 2d at 385 ,107 S. Ct. at 1175 (O’Connor, J., dissenting).)
Fourth, the failure to apply the exclusionary rule to searches based on unconstitutional statutes creates a disincentive to promulgate constitutional laws. The exception applied to unconstitutional legislation would provide a substantial grace period during which the police may, in good faith, obtain and use constitutionally tainted evidence. As to the unexplained tests the majority proposed to determine when the Krull exception would not apply, Justice O’Connor set out the difficulties that a court will face in ascertaining when a reasonable officer should be held to know that a statute has become "clearly” unconstitutional, or under what circumstances a legislature can be said to have "wholly abandoned” its obligation to pass constitutional laws. We believe these tests proposed by the Krull majority are essentially unworkable. (See Kiely, Note, 1993 U. Ill. L. Rev. 411.) We do not believe our courts should engage in metaphysical abstractions to ascertain the legal knowledge and the motivations of either the legislature in enacting statutes or the police in enforcing them. In People v. Madison (1988),
We believe the reasons enumerated by the above-cited authorities militate against applying the Krull exception here because to do so would violate our long-established State constitutional protections.
The Illinois Constitution prohibits warrantless, nonconsensual searches or seizures without probable cause (People v. Ott (1991),
We are aware that under the so-called "lockstep” doctrine our supreme court has in the past indicated its willingness to follow United States Supreme Court decisions when the Federal and State constitutional provisions and issues are similar, especially in fourth amendment cases. However, in appropriate cases, our supreme court has indicated its willingness to conduct independent analyses under the Illinois Constitution in a number of areas, including free speech, jury trials, self-incrimination, and due process. (See People v. DiGuida (1992),
The Illinois Constitution provides:
"The people shall have the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and other possessions against unreasonable searches, seizures, invasions of privacy or interceptions of communications by eavesdropping devices or other means. No warrant shall issue without probable cause, supported by affidavit particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.” (Emphasis added.) (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, §6.)
The right to be free from unreasonable invasions of privacy is express and more broadly stated under the Illinois Constitution than under the United States Constitution. (People v. Jackson (1983),
It is clear, under Illinois law, the warrant and probable cause requirements are constitutionally mandated to preserve our citizens’ right of privacy and to prevent unreasonable searches and seizures, subject only to the most narrowly defined exceptions. The Krull good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule has been found inapplicable or has been rejected by the courts of this State. (See, e.g., Madison,
Although the Federal exclusionary rule has been treated as a remedy distinct from the personal fourth amendment right itself, the Supreme Court has indicated that State courts, and Illinois in particular, which independently adopted the exclusionary rule in 1923 (Brocamp,
Thus, while the primary purpose of the exclusionary rule has been to deter police misconduct at least in the Federal context (see Madison,
Our supreme court cautions against using the good-faith exception to eviscerate the exclusionary rule and requires that we uphold the warrant and probable cause requirements. (Madison,
The exclusionary rule is not intended to punish, but is designed to promote both individual and institutional compliance with the constitutional mandate against unreasonable governmental invasions of privacy. In vindicating individual rights, the exclusionary rule encourages compliance by the legislative and executive branches and induces scrutiny and guidance from the judicial branch of Illinois. It encourages the legislature to enact constitutional laws and prevents legislative "grace” periods during which large classes of constitutional violations may freely take place. It encourages the executive branch to uphold its oath to support the Illinois Constitution while carrying out the duties of the particular office. It permits courts to honor the constitution other than merely to note its breach. In the final analysis, it is not the exclusionary rule that places limits on the government to gather evidence of crimes, it is the constitution itself. See Oakes,
In this case, we have found the Krull tests unworkable and the Krull good-faith exception incompatible with the State constitutional guarantee against unreasonable invasions of privacy. We decline to overrule or limit Bessler. (People v. Bessler (1989),
The judgment of the circuit court of Du Page County is affirmed.
Affirmed.
COLWELL, J., concurs.
Concurrence Opinion
specially concurring:
I concur in the result; however, I do not agree that the good-faith exception should be eradicated. We should strictly limit this decision to the suppression of the results of a blood-alcohol test taken pursuant to a statute that is subsequently declared unconstitutional. The good-faith exception recognizes the reality of a society where the social costs of drug-related crimes are exceedingly high. The courts should be cautious in unduly limiting the ability of law enforcement officials to obtain evidence. At the same time, the constitutional guarantees should be respected and upheld by the courts.
