Nix v. Williams
- Decided
- June 11, 1984
- Docket
- 82-1651
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 3,080 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that if prosecution shows that unlawfully obtained evidence ultimately or inevitably would have been discovered by lawful means, evidence is admissible — State v. Thurman (1993)
- recognizing that the prosecution should not be in worse position “because of some earlier police error or misconduct” — State v. Smith (2012)
- holding that an exception to the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule applies where the police would have obtained the evidence if no illegality had occurred — Haase v. Commissioner of Public Safety (2004)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
[*434] Chief Justice Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.
We granted certiorari to consider whether, at respondent Williams’ second murder trial in state court, evidence pertaining to the discovery and condition of the victim’s body was properly admitted on the ground that it would ultimately or inevitably have been discovered even if no violation of any constitutional or statutory provision had taken place.
On December 24, 1968, 10-year-old Pamela Powers disappeared from a YMCA building in Des Moines, Iowa, where she had accompanied her parents to watch an athletic contest. Shortly after she disappeared, Williams was seen leaving the YMCA carrying a large bundle wrapped in a blanket; a 14-year-old boy who had helped Williams open his car door reported that he had seen “two legs in it and they were skinny and white.”
Statutes cited
Cite this
Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431 (1984)Read the full opinion
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