58th Anniversary of Irvine v. California (347 US 128): Even the Police have to Follow the Law.

Police inspect Pete Curti's hands. 1952 L.O.C.

The police broke into the defendant's home on at least three occasions to install surveillance equipment.  The prosecutor used those recording to convict Patrick Irvine of gambling (he was a "bookmaker" in the non-literary sense of the word).  The U.S. Supreme Court said that this was a flagrant, persistent, and deliberate violation of Mr. Irvine's constitutional rights.  Later, the Court described the actions of the police as "shocking to the conscience."  Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 665 (1961).  Justice Jackson went on to say that the police committed the crimes of trespassing and burglary.  But, the Court held course with its ruling in Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U.S. 25 (1949); illegally obtained evidence is not, per se, inadmissible.

The most surprising part of the opinion is the last sentence in which the Supreme Court directs its Clerk to forward case to the U.S. Attorney General so he may prosecute the police officers for violating Mr. Irvine's constitutional rights. 

The decision in Irvine v. California was overruled by association in the landmark case Mapp v. Ohio which directly overruled Wolf v. Colorado.

Arrest of Patrick Irvine, 1952. LOC

In the image, the police are inspecting the hands of Pete Curti, a co-conspirator, for a green fluorescent powder that was scattered on bookmaker tally sheets that were located in his car.  The police had stopped Mr. Curti earlier in the day in order to dust the papers with the powder.  (more images at the Library of Congress)  Irvine also had the powder on his hands, further evidence used to convict him for illegal bookmaking.