Review the facts from last week's writing assignment. Assume that Officer O'Brien had just secured the warrant before receiving Officer Teller's call and that the warrant would have allowed him to search "any location in the mobile home in which a boy may be found."

If the court found Officer Teller's initial entry into the mobile home unlawful, should the cocaine evidence be excluded?

In answering this prompt, you should define the exclusionary rule and its scope, identify any relevant exceptions to the exclusionary rule that may apply, and explain why, as a matter of policy you think that the evidence should or should not be excluded.

Last weeks facts:

Officer O'Brien works for the Lynchburg Police Department. While patrolling a neighborhood downtown, he received a tip from a reliable source (a member of the local neighborhood watch) that a 6-year-old boy who had gone missing one week prior was seen entering a mobile home downtown with an elderly gentleman. The source was familiar with the boy because she knew his mother. She provided Officer O'Brien with the address for the mobile home. The source advised Officer O'Brien that she was still sitting outside the mobile home and that she had not seen the boy, or the old man leave. Officer O'Brien called for back up and went to the magistrate to secure a warrant.

The backup officer, Officer Teller, waited outside the mobile home, but when he hadn't heard from Officer O'Brien for about an hour, he got worried. So, he went up to the door of the mobile home and knocked. An old man meeting the neighborhood watchperson's description answered the door. Officer Teller told the old man that he had information about a missing boy being inside the mobile home, and he asked to come in. The old man said no. At that moment Officer Teller explained his concern for the boy and told the old man that he was coming in whether the old man liked it or not. The old man stepped aside, and Officer Teller barged into the mobile home and started calling the boy's name. When he called the boy's name, he heard a stifled cry coming from an area near the back of the mobile home. He ran toward the back of the mobile home and found the boy. He grabbed the boy and started walking toward the front of the mobile home. As he did so, he noticed the old man staring at a piece of newspaper folded on the table, and it looked like something was underneath it. Officer Teller thought it might be a weapon, so he moved the newspaper to the side. Instead of a weapon, there were several small baggies of cocaine bundled in a pile. Officer Teller placed the old man under arrest and called Officer O'Brien to tell him what happened.

You work for a state prosecutor and have been assigned a legal memorandum that analyzes whether the cocaine will be admissible at a trial against the old man for charges of possession of cocaine. Your memorandum must include an explanation of the following:

1. When he entered the mobile home, did Officer Teller search an area that was protected under the Fourth Amendment?
2. Did any exceptions to the warrant requirement apply that allowed Officer Teller to enter the mobile home?
3. When Officer Teller moved the newspaper, did he conduct a separate search?
4. If so, do any exceptions to the warrant requirement apply that would have allowed him to look under the newspaper?

In responding to each of these questions, you should thoroughly analyze the cases from this week's reading and any other relevant cases from prior readings.