STATE v. GERMAINE A. HANDY (A-1838-07T4)

STATE v. GERMAINE A. HANDY (A-1838-07T4) 04-12-10


This appeal required us to determine whether evidence found
during the search incident to defendant's arrest should have
been suppressed because the dispatcher who incorrectly informed
the arresting officer that there was an outstanding arrest
warrant acted unreasonably under the circumstances, even though
the conduct of the arresting officer himself was reasonable.
The warrant at issue, which was ten years old at the time, had
the same birth month, but a different birth day and year. The
first name on the warrant was a variant spelling of defendant’s
first name. We concluded that suppression is required and,
consequently, reversed the conviction.