Wednesday, January 6, 2016

No More Emergency Entry Exception When Crisis Ends

Police who enter a residence under the emergency exception are expected to restore order and prevent injury, but seizing and testing suspected items is beyond the emergency exception.
 
Commonwealth v. Kaeppeler, 2015 BL 428978, Mass., No. SJC-11855, 12/30/15

    Officers entered a house without a warrant under the "emergency aid exception," and determined that the occupant was no longer in distress. The police exceeded their authority after the initial entry when they seized and tested the contents of a tequila bottle.

    The police had received information from a local hospital that a couple who had been with the defendant the previous evening at his home had become seriously ill after drinking tequila. The police also heard from the defendant's coworker that he had not been to work that day.

    Based on that information, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld the initial warrantless entry of the defendant's home because the police had a legitimate concern for his health and safety. There was no longer an emergency, however, after the police arrived and ensured that the defendant could get "checked out" at the hospital. The court said that "[f]rom that point on, the police had no further cause for concern about the defendant's well-being and no public safety justification to remain in his home."

    The court continued by saying "[w]e recognize that the role of a police officer responding to an emergency is not necessarily limited to rendering aid to an injured person. But here, the police went beyond that and started investigating things to which they had not warrant and no reasonable articulable suspicion.

http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/Commonwealth_v_Kaeppeler_No_SJC11855_2015_BL_428978_Mass_Dec_30_2?1452097225

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