People v. Smith

Defendant was found guilty of murder and mob action and was sentenced to 20 years. On appeal, he argued that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss because his arrest was the result of an “investigative alert” rather than a warrant from a neutral magistrate. The appellate court found that defendant’s warrantless arrest was unconstitutional, but that the admission of the evidence related to the arrest was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the other evidence presented at trial “overwhelmingly” supported the guilty verdict. (WALKER, concurring, and COGHLAN, specially concurring)