Summary
U. S. Supreme Court announcement that it would not reconsider a New York Court of Appeals decision which denied a defendant’s claim that police access to his criminal record during a traffic stop amounted to an illegal search. Last fall, the high court announced it would hear Jose Tolentino’s claim that because police illegally stopped his car for excessive noise in 2005, they could not introduce his record, which indicated that he was driving on a suspended license and had at least 10 prior suspensions. While the legality of the traffic stop was never determined, the New York court held that the government’s own records do not fall under the protection of the Exclusionary Rule and cannot be excluded from trial. Before the Supreme Court, CJLF argued that the rules governing traffic stops do not prevent police from learning a driver’s identity and checking his or her criminal record. After reviewing briefs and hearing oral argument, the Court determined that it would not disturb the lower court’s holding. [CJLF brief in PDF.]
