ng to negate the
_Weeks_ doctrine. We would then be faced with the problem of the respect
to be accorded the legislative judgment on an issue as to which, in
default of that judgment, we have been forced to depend upon our
own."[67] This rule does not prevent the use of evidence unlawfully
obtained by individuals,[68] or by State officers,[69] unless federal
agents had a part in the unlawful acquisition,[70] or unless the arrest
and search were made for an offense punishable only by federal law.[71]
A search is deemed to be "a search by a federal official if he had a
hand in it; * * * [but not] if evidence secured by State authorities is
turned over to the federal authorities on a silver platter. The decisive
factor * * * is the actuality of a share by a federal official in the
total enterprise of securing and selecting evidence by other than
sanctioned means. It is immaterial whether a federal agent originated
the idea or joined in it while the search was in progress. So long as he
was in it before the object of the search was completely accomplished,
he must be deemed to have participated in it."[72] Samples of illicit
goods constituting part of a quantity seized by federal officials under
a valid search warrant may be used as evidence, whether or not the
officers become civilly liable as trespassers _ab initio_, by reason of
the fact that they unlawfully destroyed the remainder of the goods at
the time the seizure was made.[73]

In Silver Thorne Lumber Co. _v._. United States,[74] the Court refused
to permit the Government to subpoena corporate records of which it had
obtained knowledge by an unlawful search. To permit "knowledge gained by
the Government's own wrong" to be so used would do violence to the Bill
of Rights.[75] But a defendant in a civil antitrust suit may be required
to produce records which had been previously subpoenaed before a grand
jury, despite the fact that the grand jury was illegally constituted
because women were excluded from the panel.[76] Where government agents
lawfully obtained knowledge of the contents of a cancelled check during
examination of the records of a government contractor, the admission of
such check in evidence was held not to be an abuse of discretion even if
the seizure of the check itself was deemed illegal.[77] The seizure of
papers under a writ of replevin issued in a civil suit between private
persons does not violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.[78]

Notes

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