The Supreme Court says evidence found after an arrest based on incorrect information from police files may be used against a criminal suspect.
In a 5-4 ruling Wednesday, the court is upholding the conviction of an Alabama man on federal drug and gun charges.
Bennie Dean Herring was arrested on what the Coffee County, Ala., sheriff’s department thought was a valid warrant from a neighboring county. It turned out that the warrant for Herring’s arrest had been recalled five months earlier.
Herring argued that police negligence should automatically lead to the suppression of evidence found after an unjustified arrest.
But Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said the evidence may be used ”when police mistakes are the result of negligence such as that described here, rather than systemic error or reckless disregard of constitutional requirements.”