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SC: Looking into defendant's garage window in looking for his vehicle after a murder was not an unreasonable search

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A peak into the garage window to see if defendant’s SUV was parked there in looking for the defendant shortly after a murder was not an unreasonable search. State v. Herring, 2009 S.C. LEXIS 566 (December 21, 2009): Under the circumstances presented, we find the exigencies of the situation justified Officer Linfert's look into Herring's garage at 2:00 a.m. It is undisputed that police had knowledge of Herring's identity, his residence, the make and model of his vehicle, and his license tag number. Officer Linfert testified that upon arriving at the home, he saw a light on in the garage and therefore looked through the window to see if the suspect was inside. Police officers were looking for a suspected murderer whom they knew was likely to be armed with a deadly weapon...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 27, 2009 (boomark / email).