The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the legal principle that evidence obtained in violation of the so-called knock-and-announce rule must be excluded from use at a trial. The high court said in a 5-to-4 decision Thursday that such evidence can be used at trial. The social costs of excluding evidence because of a violation of the knock-and-announce rule are considerable, the high court said. The decision is \"very disturbing,\" said Wayne State University Law Professor David Moran who argued the case before the Supreme Court. \"It seems to rethink the entire exclusionary rule, which is the only thing that has caused the police for the past 50 years to generally comply with the Fourth Amendment.\" In a Detroit Free Press story today, Moran also offers comments about the case. "The knock-and-announce rule is now dead,\" Moran said, adding that there would be no meaningful penalty to make police comply with the rules, given the difficulty in successfully suing the police. Moran also said in a Detroit News article today that the ruling is "a real blow to the rights of property owners."