Supreme Court -- Another Look At Warrantless Arrest Ordered

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court told Nevada's highest court yesterday to restudy the murder conviction and death sentence of a man accused of beating to death his girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter.

The justices said a 1991 high court decision generally requiring court hearings within 48 hours of arrests made without warrants applies retroactively to Kitrich Powell's prosecution in Nevada.

Perhaps more significantly, the court said a violation of its 48-hour rule doesn't always have to result in reversal of a criminal conviction.

The 1991 ruling applies to all prosecutions "pending on direct review or not yet final," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the court today.

But, she added, that doesn't mean Powell "must be set free or gain other relief, for several questions remain open for decision" by the Nevada Supreme Court.

The 7-2 decision said the state court must consider:

-- The appropriate remedy for a four-day delay between Powell's warrantless arrest and a court hearing to determine whether police had "probable cause" to believe he had committed a crime.

-- The consequences of Powell's failure to raise the delay issue at his trial.

-- Whether the use as trial evidence of statements Powell made between his arrest and court appearance amounted to harmless error.

Although technical, the ruling has the potential of affecting hundreds of prosecutions nationwide each year.

The Clinton administration had urged the court to rule as it did - that a violation of the 48-hour rule should not automatically result in throwing out a conviction.

Powell was convicted of the 1989 beating death of a child in Las Vegas.

Powell was still in custody when on Nov. 7 he agreed to answer more questions. He did not receive a court hearing until later that day.