Indiana Supreme Court Takes Case Involving Police Eavesdropping

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (AP) — The Indiana Supreme Court has taken a case involving Michigan City police officers improperly eavesdropping on a conversation between an attorney and a man accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend.

The officers had evoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in connection with the eavesdropping. Police found the alleged murder weapon after listening to the conversation between Brian Taylor and his attorney.

Taylor's murder trial was put on hold and he was released from jail last year after a LaPorte County judge barred all trial testimony from the officers.

The (Munster) Times reports the Supreme Court's decision to take the case was announced Monday. The decision sets aside an appeals court ruling that the judge properly excluded the weapon, but shouldn't have prohibited officers from testifying about other evidence.