Court Opinion

ID: 9631305
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 10:33:57.888599+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:07:51.892616
License: Public Domain

BRETT, Judge,
dissents:
The majority today adopts the holding under Hill v. California that the arrest of a person who is mistakenly thought to be someone else is valid if the arresting officer has probable cause to arrest the person sought, and he or she acted under a reasonable belief that the person arrested was the person sought. I cannot condone such a rule as it holds an inherent danger of abuse by police officers. Instead, I would adhere to the rule followed by Georgia, that an arrest warrant is valid only against the person named in it and that the warrant will not justify the arrest of a person other than the one named in it even if the arresting officer acted in good faith. Grant v. State, 152 Ga.App. 258, 262 S.E.2d 553 (1979).
It is true that in Hill the Supreme Court found an arrest similar to the one at issue here to be constitutional. However, there is nothing to preclude the states from providing more expansive individual protection than the United States Constitution provides. See Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U.S. 74, 100 S.Ct. 2035, 64 L.Ed.2d 741 (1980). Oklahoma need not adopt a standard which allows a warrant to become a vehicle for police indiscretion thereby sanctioning the erosion of individual rights. Therefore, I respectfully dissent to the majority opinion.