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FL4: Knock-and-talk with open door did not permit entry here

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Police came to defendant's apartment for a knock-and-talk, and they found the door open and saw the defendant in the kitchen area just inside the door wiping the counter with a paper towel and a scale with a straw and white powder on it. They entered without a warrant. There was no indication that the defendant was aware of their presence such that he was destroying the evidence, thus, an exigent circumstance, and the entry was unreasonable. Cote v. State, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 8849 (4 DCA June 17, 2009): Comparing the case at hand with Gnann, Gilbert, and Garcia, when Detectives Mijal and Maldonado arrived at Cote's apartment and observed the contraband through the open door, the record does not support that Cote was aware of the detectives' presence...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 10, 2009 (boomark / email).