Rochin v. California

Rochin v. California is a landmark Supreme Court case which decided that behavior that “shocks the conscience” violates the accused due process of law. It all began in Los Angeles County California on July 1st 1949, when, acting on a tip that Rochin was selling narcotics, three police officers entered Rochin’s home.

The police had no search warrant, but the front door was open, so they entered his home. Upon entering the home, the police then forced their way into Rochin’s bedroom and saw him and his wife lying in bed. Immediately the police noticed some capsules on the side of the bed on a night stand, so they asked him, “Whose stuff is this?” Rochin then, without hesitation, took the two capsules and swallowed them. The three officers knew that Rochin had just swallowed some valuable evidence so they acted in a way that they believed was just. All three officers jumped on Richard Rochin attempting to open his mouth, strangle him, and jump on him, doing whatever they had to do to get the pills out of Rochin’s system and into the evidence room.

The police soon knew that their efforts were failing so they handcuffed Rochin and rushed him to the hospital where the doctor was given directions from the police to induce vomiting. The doctor forced an emetic solution down a tube in Richard Rochin’s throat which forced him to uncontrollably vomit. In the vomited matter, the police officers found two morphine capsules.

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Rochin was then charged with possession of morphine and the California Superior Court found him guilty, sentencing him to 60 days in prison. The capsules that were forced out of Rochin were the sole pieces of evidence in this case, and Rochin argued that he did not want the evidence to be admitted into the trial, however it was.

Rochin appealed and the California Appellate Courts held strong, standing by their decision. Rochin went one step further, and filed an appeal with the United States Supreme Court. With help from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Rochin petitioned the United States Supreme Court beginning on October 16, 1951, which then granted him certiorari which reviewed the lower-court’s decision.

Justice Frankfurter made arguments that The Due Process Clause enables the court to overthrow any state law if in the way that it is applied, “shocks the conscience”, “offends a sense of justice”, or “runs counter to the decencies of civilized conduct.” Therefore on January 2, 1952 it was decided that the arrest and conviction of Richard Antonio Rochin, since it was obtained by methods that violate the Due Process Clause, must be reversed!