The Florida Supreme Court is reversing legal precedent that previously required judges to throw out evidence collected by police, when they don’t knock and announce themselves.
Typically, when police conduct a raid with a search warrant without giving residents enough time to answer the door, the evidence gathered is not allowed in court.
The Justices overturned that procedure in a 6-1 ruling.
Justice Meredith Sasso wrote for the majority that Florida’s knock-and-announce statute does not give judges the authority to suppress that evidence.
The ruling stems from a investigation out of Leon County. State and local police obtained a search warrant for a residence connected to a suspected trafficking organization. During the raid, police knocked and announced themselves several times, but only said they had a search warrant moments before barreling through the door.
As the case moved along, a judge ruled to suppress evidence found during that raid.
That decision was appealed and the case made its way up to the state’s Supreme Court.