Does the exclusionary rule apply in determining the admissibility of evidence obtained in a probation search by the legal status of the probationer at the time of the search?

Determining the admissibility of evidence obtained in a probation search by the legal status of the probationer at the time of the search is consistent with the functions of the exclusionary rule. Insofar as that rule exists to deter intrusion by the police upon constitutionally protected rights of privacy (People v. Blair (1979) 25 Cal.3d 640, 655, 159 Cal.Rptr. 818, 602 P.2d 738), it obviously would serve no useful purpose to apply it in a situation where the police are acting on the basis of a then valid and subsisting condition of probation which permits them to search without a warrant. On the contrary, to apply the exclusionary rule in such a context would mean that whenever the police conduct a probationary search they would be acting at their, and the public's, peril. And, in light of these considerations, we cannot accept respondents' contention that application of the exclusionary rule is required in order to maintain the integrity of the judicial process. (People v. Blair, supra, 25 Cal.3d at 656, 159 Cal.Rptr. 818, 602 P.2d 738.) Rather, we consider that the integrity of the process is best served, at least under the circumstances present here, by a rule which determines the validity of the search on the basis of the legal situation which exists at the time the search is made.