Supreme Court sides with Montana police on warrant requirements during emergencies
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with Montana police on Wednesday in a case over when officers can enter a home without a warrant if an emergency might be unfolding inside.
The unanimous high court found officers acted lawfully when they went into the home of William Case, who was shot and wounded after officers entered his home in 2021.
Police were responding to a call from Case’s former girlfriend, who feared he might have killed himself. They entered his home after knocking on the door produced no response. An officer fired after Case threw open a closet curtain while holding an object that looked like a gun, according to court documents. A handgun was later found in a nearby laundry basket.
Case was charged with assaulting an officer but argued that the evidence against him should be tossed out because officers didn’t have a warrant.
The Montana Supreme Court disagreed, finding that the officers needed only to reasonably suspect someone required emergency help. Case appealed to the justices and asked them to require a higher probable cause standard, similar to criminal investigations.
The justices rejected that argument. They found that the standard set by the state’s highest court was too low but that the Montana officers’ actions were nevertheless “objectively reasonable” under a standard set in a previous Supreme Court case.
The opinion written by Justice Elena Kagan noted that entering during an emergency doesn’t allow police to search beyond what’s needed to help and keep officers safe.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.