Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

VA: Possible evanescent DNA on the defendant's person was justification for a warrantless entry after a rape

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Danger to the community from an alleged rapist on the loose, with slight PC, was enough to justify a warrantless entry into defendant's house to arrest him for the home invasion rape of a 94 year old woman. The police were also trying to get the potentially destructible DNA evidence that the defendant might have on his person. West v. Commonwealth, 2009 Va. App. LEXIS 305 (July 14, 2009): Based on an examination of the entire record before us, we find that sufficient exigent circumstances existed in this case that justify the police's entry into appellant's home without a warrant. Here, the officers were investigating serious crimes, involving violent sexual assault and home invasion. See Welsh, 466 U.S. at 751-52 (explaining that the seriousness of the alleged offense is an important factor)...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 20, 2009 (boomark / email).