Originally Posted by
Rebelyell
The rules against illegal gathering of evidence only apply to police and prosecutors. If a private individual illegally collects evidence prosecutors can nevertheless use it. They may also prosecute the person illegally collecting the evidence, though.
I have my doubts about this.
It would seem, if this were the case, that the cops would tend to encourage non-LEOs to gather information for them that they couldn't legally obtain, thus perform an end run around the law. I think this very activity has been chastised from the bench more than once.