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NC: Toddler on the highway that belonged to mobile home where nobody answered and door ajar justified entry

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officer’s entry into defendant’s mobile home was based on exigent circumstances. He found a toddler on the side of a highway near the home, and he was able to ascertain the one by seeing a picture of the child in a pickup truck parked outside. He looked in the vehicle for the registration, and officers were calling around trying to find the parent. Nobody answered at the mobile home, and the officer went to the back door which was ajar and a diaper was on the top step. While there was no sign of blood or foul play, the entry was reasonable under the circumstances. State v. Cline, 2010 N.C. App. LEXIS 1306 (July 20, 2010). The defendant was talking with an officer and he dropped a folded dollar bill and put his foot over it. He then picked it up and the officer asked for it...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 22, 2010 (boomark / email).