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CO: Officer safety was not shown to be an exigency in a vehicle theft case

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his fenced backyard. A warrantless entry into the backyard was not permitted because there no exigent circumstances justifying it. The asserted justification of officer safety was not shown in this vehicle theft case. People v. Brunsting, 2009 Colo. App. LEXIS 323 (March 5, 2009): Here, the People do not rely on the first two factors set forth above (and the trial court did not find the deputies were in "hot pursuit," or that there was a risk the occupants of the house would destroy evidence relating to the stolen vehicle). Rather, the People contend that the exigent circumstance justifying the deputies' entry in the backyard was their "reasonable ... belie[f] that their lives might be in danger when they knocked on the door to ask about the vehicle...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 07, 2009 (boomark / email).