Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

PA: Entry into curtilage at night was without exigency and suppressed

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Where the state supreme court had upheld the stop of the driver in this case (State v. Anderson, 281 Kan. 896, 136 P.3d 406 (2006)), the stop of the passenger was justified, too. Under Arizona v. Johnson, 172 L. Ed. 2d 694, 129 S. Ct. 781 (2009), the patdown of the passenger was justified by reasonable suspicion. State v. Golston, 2009 Kan. App. LEXIS 116 (March 13, 2009).* Officers' entry into curtilage at night to investigate a property crime was not justified by exigent circumstances. Commonwealth v. Lee, 2009 PA Super 43, 2009 Pa. Super. LEXIS 51 (March 13, 2009): [*P8] In this case, a balancing of the Roland factors demonstrates a lack of exigency for a warrantless search of Lee's property. The gravity of the offense was low, as the police were investigating a report of property damage at the time of the intrusion...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 19, 2009 (boomark / email).