Palmer v. State

The convictions of the appellant, Walter Palmer, in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County by Judge Walter R. Haile, sitting without a jury, for the possession of narcotics paraphernalia and for the carrying of a concealed weapon present the question, “Does the thief have standing to object to the search of a stolen automobile?” The answer is, “No.”

The very concept of “standing” is a latter-day consideration of the criminal law. It is an adjunct of the exclusionary rule, and serves as a limitation upon the operation of that rule. 1 It would have beén an irrelevancy until the adoption of the…