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CA5: Officers with arrest warrant could enter to secure the situation

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officers did a knock-and-talk to effect an arrest warrant, and they asked for ID. Once the person was ID’d, they stepped in, and this was not unreasonable to secure the situation. United States v. Roberts, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 14359 (5th Cir. July 13, 2010)*: The facts here are even stronger than in Chrisman. The Supreme Court found that the entry to maintain control was reasonable even in the "absence of an affirmative indication that the ... person might have a weapon available or might attempt to escape." Id. at 6. (emphasis added). Here, the officers acted well within their authority in stepping into Roberts's apartment. Not only did they need to maintain control over their suspect, but they had affirmative information indicating the presence of weapons based on information provided by the other building residents...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 15, 2010 (boomark / email).