ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - A Maryland appeals court has said police responding to an anonymous 911 call regarding potential illegal activity need to keep a recording of the call.
The Daily Record of Baltimore reported Wednesday that the Court of Special Appeals said not keeping recordings could cause subsequent stops, arrests and convictions to be overturned. The court issued the ruling last week when it overturned an illegal gun possession conviction in Baltimore.
The unanimous decision said a 911 dispatcher’s report didn’t give police reasonable suspicion to stop two men matching an anonymous caller’s unrecorded description. A gun was found on one of the men. Judge Alan M. Wilner says it would benefit the state to produce the recording or explain the absence of a recording when relying on an anonymous 911 tip.
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Information from: The Daily Record of Baltimore, http://www.thedailyrecord.com
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