Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- The House rejected a liberal Democrat's bid to undercut a recent Supreme Court decision permitting evidence obtained in violation of the "knock and announce" rule to be used at trial. The vote came two weeks after the court ruled that evidence seized by police with a warrant who barge into homes even if they don't knock can be used in court. By a 310-109 vote, the House rejected an amendment by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., blocking the Justice Department from obtaining evidence in violation of the knock and announce rule. The vote came as the House debated a...

Los Angeles -- Prosecutors announced Thursday they will not file charges against a police officer who was videotaped clubbing a car-theft suspect with a flashlight in a case that evoked comparisons to the Rodney King beating. The decision was denounced by minority community leaders and Mayor James Hahn, who said: "I do not agree with that decision. I saw what you saw." The district attorney's office spent five months reviewing the incident, in which Officer John Hatfield struck Stanley Miller 11 times with a 2-pound steel flashlight after a June 23 car-and-foot chase. "In light of the totality of the...