M.A. Wolf v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

OAKES, Senior Circuit Judge.

The issue in this appeal is whether the exclusionary rule applies in civil tax proceedings to bar the admission of evidence seized in an allegedly illegal search conducted in furtherance of a criminal narcotics investigation. We are required by the decisions of the Supreme Court to apply the exclusionary rule in this intrasovereign context only if application would deter future violations of the Fourth Amendment. We conclude that tax deficiency proceedings are “too remote from the ‘zone of primary interest’ ” of the narcotics agent who made the seizure for…