IL: There are no degrees of illegality in 4A cases with differing standards

There are no degrees of illegality in Fourth Amendment cases with differing standards. People v. Massamillo, 2020 IL App (3d) 190765, 2020 Ill. App. LEXIS 754 (Nov. 9, 2020):

[*P19] Defendant also argues that his case is distinguishable from the more common situation in which arrests are deemed illegal for lack of probable cause “because [defendant’s] arrest was invalid from its inception due to the lack of authority of the officer to make the arrest.” In essence, he argues that the instant arrest was even more illegal than a mere violation of the fourth amendment.

[*P20] Again, defendant has cited no authority in support of the notion of tiers of illegality, or that one illegal arrest may be merely illegal while another is “invalid from its inception.” In fact, the rule that an illegal arrest is not a jurisdictional issue has been applied in circumstances far more egregious than those seen here. In Frisbie v. Collins, 342 U.S. 519, 520 (1952), for instance, the defendant was forcibly seized from his home in Chicago by Michigan officers, who subsequently transported him to Michigan. …

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