| Wong Sun v. United States | ||||||
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Supreme Court of the United States |
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| Argued March 29, April 2, 1962 Reargued October 8, 1962 Decided January 14, 1963 |
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| Full case name | Wong Sun, et al. v. United States | |||||
| Citations | 371 U.S. 471 (more) 83 S. Ct. 407; 9 L. Ed. 2d 441; 1963 U.S. LEXIS 2431 |
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| Prior history | Cert. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | |||||
| Holding | ||||||
| The presentation of verbal evidence and recovered narcotics where they were both fruits of an illegal entry are inadmissible in court except where there is a break in the chain of evidence. | ||||||
| Court membership | ||||||
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| Case opinions | ||||||
| Majority | Brennan, joined by Warren, Black, Goldberg | |||||
| Concurrence | Douglas | |||||
| Dissent | Clark, joined by Harlan, Stewart, White | |||||
Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (1963), is a United States Supreme Court decision excluding the presentation of verbal evidence and recovered narcotics where they were both fruits of an illegal entry. Narcotics agents unlawfully entered Toy's laundry at which point Toy indicated that Yee was selling narcotics. The drug agents then went to Yee and found the narcotics. Yee made a deal to give up his supplier, Wong Sun. Wong Sun was a prominent businessman, so the police invited him for a conversation about the case. Following this conversation, Wong Sun voluntarily returned to the police station to make a deal of his own, during the process of which he confessed. At Yee's trial, Toy's statements and the discovered drugs were both excluded as fruit of the poisonous tree because the search was done without a warrant. Wong Sun's lawyer argued that Wong Sun's confession should also be excluded as fruit of the poisonous tree. The court affirmed the fruit of the poisonous tree rule, but found an exception to exclusion in Wong Sun's case on the grounds that Wong Sun had voluntarily returned to the police station to make his statement, an act which had "become so attenuated as to dissipate the taint" or broke the chain of inadmissible evidence. Wong Sun was granted a new trial, but his confession was admissible.