The Star Chamber - Legal Accuracy

Legal Accuracy

Although the evidentiary law of the movie was accurate at the time the movie was produced, several evidentiary rules used in the movie have since been overturned by subsequent court rulings. Under California law during the events of the movie, the police did not have the authority to search garbage; this was overruled in California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (1988), in which the United States Supreme Court ruled no reasonable expectation of privacy exists in a trashcan placed outside of a residence. Although the movie accurately reflects the law at the time it was released in 1983, Greenwood later invalidated that particular legal underpinning.

The evidentiary ruling by Hardin concerning the police officers' reliance upon Department of Motor Vehicles records that were out-of-date was also correct at the time of the movie's events but has since been overturned by the United States Supreme Court. In United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (1984), the Court carved out an exception to the exclusionary rule where a police officer relies on invalid information but does so in good faith. In Arizona v. Evans, 514 U.S. 1 (1995), the Court ruled that evidence seized as a result of incorrect motor vehicle records is still admissible.