The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction, holding that the defendant's arrest was proper and that evidence found pursuant to that arrest was admissible. The Court of Criminal Appeals set out the facts in Morgan v. State, 641 So.2d 834 (Ala.Cr.App. 1992). However, we feel it necessary to recite the facts as found by that court in order to better present the issue in this case:
On appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals held that, while the warrantless arrest was invalid because the arrest did not meet the requirements of §§ 15-9-40 and 15-9-41, sufficient probable cause existed to arrest Morgan for sexual offenses occurring in Alabama and, therefore, "because the arrest was proper, the search and seizure of the incriminating evidence was legal, and the trial court correctly denied the appellant's motion to suppress."Morgan v. State, 641 So.2d 834, 838 (Ala.Crim.App. 1992). On certiorari review, this Court agreed that the arrest was invalid because it did not meet the requirements of §§ 15-9-40 and 15-9-41 in that the police had not obtained a fugitive-from-justice warrant before making the arrest, but held that the exclusionary rule was inapplicable because "[u]nder § 15-9-40, the Florida warrants, if properly authenticated, would serve as a basis for a fugitive from justice warrant" and "an objective officer could have reasonably relied upon the two Florida warrants in the possession of a Florida law enforcement official present at the arrest scene to conduct the warrantless arrest."