FADE IN:

Dirty Harry breaks into Scorpio's apartment without a search warrant, finds the rifle he's been using to kill people, and then forces a confession out of him which leads to the whereabouts of a dead girl. Later, Harry is told this evidence is inadmissible in court and the guy walks free. 

Is this how the legal system works in the states? Maybe this is how it works in the UK too. 

Seems crazy that they find this dead girl where he says she is and a rifle that will likely match bullets found at the other crime scenes, and they have to let him go, when there's evidence that makes it almost certainly clear he's guilty. 

Anyone know if this is actually how it works or whether this is a film thing?