SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE

the refusal to produce evidence or to allow evidence to be produced for use in litigation. Suppression of evidence refers most commonly to the sanction in a criminal case for an unreasonable search or seizure that violates a defendant's constitutional rights. in 1914, the US Supreme Court held that illegally seized evidence must be excluded from use in federal criminal trials. In 1961, the Court expanded the exclusionary rule to include state criminal trials.
Suppression of evidence also refers either to a party's refusal to produce evidence or to interference by a party with the production of evidence when another party seeks the evidence pursuant to the law. In civil cases, the failure to produce evidence may constitute an admission that the evidence is unfavorable to the party refusing to produce it. Source: Barron's Dictionary of Legal Terms, Steven H. Gifis, 5th Edition; © 2016