An alleged victim of domestic violence calls 911 but hangs up before completing the call. The dispatcher has caller ID, however, and sends police to the address. When they arrive the couple insists no call was placed and there is no need for assistance.
Exigent circumstances can justify a warrantless entry into a residence.
Exigent means urgent, calling for immediate attention. If contraband or evidence of a crime is in plain view, the officers may seize it and, if the entry was lawful, it is admissible at a subsequent criminal trial. If such evidence were seized and a person in the home were arrested based on that evidence, the defendant's lawyer would move in court to suppress that evidence, meaning he or she would seek an order from the court ruling that the evidence could not be used in the trial. At the motion to suppress, the government has the burden of establishing that there were exigent circumstances. Case law recognizes that exigent circumstances may exist where there is a danger of serious harm to a person who may be in the residence.