This AP story (headlined "Court Blasts Police for 'Dangerous' Arrest" in the Fort Worth Texas Sun Telegram) reporting on the Indiana Court of Appeals ruling yesterday in the case of Osborne v. State (scroll down for yesterday's Indiana Law Blog entry) has been picked up all over the country this morning. Some quotes:
INDIANAPOLIS - An appeals court Thursday scolded police for encouraging a man who had been drinking and doing drugs to speed through a town so officers could pull him over and arrest his passenger for possession of cocaine.The story has appeared in papers as far away as Great Britain (Guardian.co.uk).The staged arrest was "outrageously dangerous," the Indiana Court of Appeals said, ruling unanimously to suppress the evidence found on passenger Richard W. Osborne. * * *
"They released a missile over which they had no control in the form of a Honda Prelude onto the streets of southern Indiana by not only failing to prevent Turner from driving, but actually encouraging him to drive by agreeing to and acting upon this plan," the court said.
Here is the Indianapolis Star story, headlined "Cops told man on alcohol, drugs to drive: Court rebukes police for urging motorist to speed so they could arrest his passenger." Some quotes:
An appeals court sharply criticized Indiana State Police on Thursday for conducting an "outrageously dangerous" traffic stop by knowingly encouraging an informant under the influence of drugs and alcohol to speed through a small town. * * *[Update 3/27/04] This editorial, titled "Outrageous stunt by law enforcement," appears in this morning's Indianapolis Star. Posted by Marcia Oddi at March 26, 2004 12:15 PMThursday, a three-judge panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled the traffic stop unconstitutional because the police used unreasonable and dangerous means to trap Osborne. The judges rebuked the police for flouting Indiana's public policy and encouraging drunken and drugged driving.