State of Florida v. Keith Alexander Times

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida answered a certified question in the negative, holding that evidence obtained during execution of a valid search warrant need not be suppressed to remedy a violation of the knock-and-announce statute, section 933.09, because the statute's plain text contains no exclusionary remedy and remedies for statutory violations rest with the Legislature. The Court receded from Cable, concluding it was wrongly decided because it overread Benefield and judicially supplied a remedy the Legislature did not enact, and it quashed the First District's decision affirming suppression. Justice Labarga dissented, contending that no change in the law warranted receding from Cable, that the exclusionary rule is a longstanding judicial remedy protecting life, property, and privacy, and that section 933.17 is a penalty rather than a remedy.