Knock-and-Talk Exception Does Not Allow Late Hour Entry Into Curtilage

Even under the Knock-and-Talk exception, police do not have license to enter the curtilage of a home if they subjectively plan to execute a warrantless arrest.

United States v. Lundin, 2016 BL 87041, 9th Cir., No. 14-10365, 3/22/16

     The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Police may not use the 'knock-and-talk' exception to the warrant requirement as a pretext to enter the curtilage of a home at four a.m. This indicates that the implied license to approach a front door of a home does not apply in the dead of night, and cannot be used by police if the officers are subjectively interested in arresting, rather than speaking with, the occupant.

     The court clarified that the knock-and-talk exception only applies during 'normal waking hours,' stemming from the normal implied license extended by the homeowner to visitors. The officers were outside of that, because they knocked on the door at four a.m., not at a normal hour for visitors.

     The court cited the US Supreme Court case, Florida v. Jardines, saying that the knock-and-talk is also limited to a specific purpose. When officers approach a house to execute a warrantless arrest, it is outside the social norm that is extended to members of the public to the front door.

http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/United_States_v_Lundin_No_1410365_2016_BL_87041_9th_Cir_Mar_22_20?1462378081