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S.D.Ohio: Domestic disturbance call was exigent circumstance

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Because of the “combustible nature” of domestic disturbance calls, the officer could reasonably enter the house to make an assessment of the potential threat to the caller. United States v. Lauderdale, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65674 (S.D. Ohio June 9, 2010)*: The "risk-of-danger" exception to the requirement that a warrant be obtained before searching a home applies in this case. Officer's Gross and Blackburn were responding to a peace officer assistance call made by Rogers for assistance in gathering her belongings. In their experience, peace officer assistance calls typically involve domestic disputes which are inherently unpredictable. Further, police protocol dictates that police officers responding to this type of call make a face-to-face contact with the caller to assess any potential threat to the caller...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 05, 2010 (boomark / email).