Opinion ID: 1770591
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: State v. White

Text: A few months after the decision in Evans, this Court was presented with a similar issue involving erroneous reliance upon a reported warrant in which the error leading to the arrest was committed by personnel working in a police department. See White, 660 So.2d at 666. The basis for the erroneous report on the status of the warrant in White was a computer error in the Sheriff's Office. Id. at 665-66. In our decision, we recognized that Evans had not spoken directly to the question of whether the exclusionary rule should apply when the error leading to the unlawful arrest was attributable to law enforcement or other executive branch agencies. See id. at 666. We concluded that the error was within the collective knowledge of the sheriff's office and could not serve as the proper basis for a lawful arrest. Id. at 668. We further found that the failure of the police to maintain accurate and updated records fit into the category of conduct meant to be covered by the exclusionary rule. See id. at 667. Specifically, we stated that [s]uppression of evidence seized pursuant to police computer error will encourage law enforcement agencies to diligently maintain accurate and current computer records. Id. In approving the application of the exclusionary rule, the opinion cited with approval the automation error concerns expressed by the Arizona Supreme Court: It is repugnant to the principles of a free society that a person should ever be taken into police custody because of a computer error precipitated by government carelessness. As automation increasingly invades modern life, the potential for Orwellian mischief grows. Under such circumstances the exclusionary rule is a cost we cannot afford to be without. Id. at 667-68 (quoting State v. Evans, 177 Ariz. 201, 866 P.2d 869, 872 (1994), rev'd, 514 U.S. 1, 115 S.Ct. 1185, 131 L.Ed.2d 34 (1995)).