By Associated Press
Washington, DC – The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to consider whether evidence must be suppressed when authorities base an arrest on incorrect information from police files.
The Coffee County sheriff's department took Bennie Dean Herring into custody after being told by another county he was wanted for failing to appear in court on a felony charge.
In a subsequent search, the sheriff's department found methamphetamine in Herring's pockets and an unloaded gun under the front seat of his truck.
It turned out that the warrant for Herring's arrest had been recalled five months earlier.
Herring was sentenced to 27 months in prison after a jury convicted him on federal drug and gun charges.
Courts have ruled that as a deterrent to police misconduct, the fruits of an unlawful search and seizure may be excluded from evidence.
The case is Herring v. U.S., 07-513.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)