78-05-A3

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Crime

Transcript Several weeks ago the press routinely carried a story about a United States Supreme court decision that goes a long way toward explaining why the "bad guys" may be winning in the war on crime. Out in Rolla Missouri a state patrolman saw an unkempt stranger with no luggage of any kind trying to hitchhike his way west on an Intrastate highway. Patrolman Herbert J. Hoffman went on his way without pausing. But when he saw the same man an hour later, this time three miles away trying to hitch a ride south on a local highway he became suspicious enough to stop and ask for the man's I.D. While the hitchhiker, Thomas Carl Jones, sat in the patrol car Hoffman made a radio check and learned that Jones was wanted in Pennsylvania for the theft of a revolver. Pennsylvania authorities also wanted him for questioning in the murder of his aunt (he was later charged with that crime) Hoffman had already taken possession of a .38 caliber revolver so, all-in-all, it looked like a good bit of police work had resulted from his alertness. A Pennsylvania court refused to allow the gun or statements Jones had made to Patrolman Hoffman to be introduced as evidence. The judge said the patrolman didn't have "probable cause" to suspect Jones of criminal activity. He further ruled that even though Jones had only been detained and had talked voluntarily to Hoffman, the patrolmans uniformed presence constituted authority and force. The District Attorney said that the gun and the voluntary and the voluntary statements made by Jones had been the critical evidence he was counting on. The judge's decision was upheld by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme court refused to review it. According to the District Attorney it is unlikely that Jones will be prosecuted for the murder of his aunt. This is another one of those "exclusionary rule" cases. An arresting officer is held to be in technical violation of someone's constitutional rights, therefore no evidence found by him can be used in court. It is so contrary to common sense that officers have complained if they stopped a man for running a red light and found a bleeding body in the rear seat they could still only charge the man with a traffic violation. We tried to get a solution to this "exclusionary rule" in California while I was Governor but the trial lawyers association and a permissive legislature blocked action. We proposed that in cases of technical violations by a law enforcement officer the citizen be allowed to sue the government body employing the officer at the governments expense but that any evidence found by the officer be admissible in court. Not perfect, but it would give protection to the citizen unjustly hassled by law enforcement at the same time that it kept the courts from turning the someone obviously guilty back out on the streets. Personally, I think Patrolman Hoffman of Montana did just what he should have done. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 78-05-A3 Production Date 04/03/1978 Book/Page RPtV-281 Audio Youtube? No
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