LYING-COP RULING PROTECTS RIGHTS

Kentuckians' civil liberties are a little safer today thanks to a
Kentucky Supreme Court ruling handed down last week.

In March 2003, Paducah residents Frederick Carl "Fritz" Krause III
and Joe Yamada pleaded guilty to cocaine and marijuana charges after
Kentucky State Police Detective Jason Manar came to their house in
the middle of the night and found drug paraphernalia.

Manar told Krause a young girl had been raped inside the house, and
that he needed to see if furniture matched the girl's descriptions.
But there was no rape and no young girl - the officer was lying.

Krause challenged his conviction on the basis of the Fourth
Amendment, which requires law enforcement officials to obtain a
warrant before such searches.

In a 5-2 ruling, the Supreme Court correctly said Manar's lie "cannot
be sanctioned," as reported in the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Manar's story, the Court said, "absolutely undermined" the
requirement that searches without warrants be voluntary and without coercion.

Police have long been given the latitude to lie to suspects during
interrogation. But that applies only to individuals who have already
been arrested and read their rights.

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruling means Kentuckians will be protected
from overzealous police tactics. The Court got this finding
absolutely right, and Kentucky residents should be thankful.