Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/558bv.pdf
Page Number: 211.0

50 

MICHIGAN  v.  FISHER 

Stevens, J., dissenting 

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The  petition  for  certiorari  is  granted.  The  judgment  of 
the  Michigan  Court  of  Appeals  is  reversed,  and  the  case  is 
remanded for further proceedings  not inconsistent with this 
opinion. 

It is so ordered. 

Justice Stevens, with whom Justice Sotomayor joins, 

dissenting. 

On October 31, 2003, Jeremy Fisher pointed a riﬂe at Ofﬁ­
cer  Christopher  Goolsby  when  Goolsby  attempted  to  force 
his  way  into  Fisher’s  home  without  a  warrant.  Fisher  was 
charged  with  assault  with  a  dangerous  weapon  and  pos­
session  of  a  dangerous  weapon  during  the  commission  of  a 
felony.  The  charges  were  dismissed  after  the  trial  judge 
granted a motion to suppress evidence of the assault because 
it was the product of Goolsby’s unlawful entry.  In 2005 the 
Michigan Court of Appeals held that the trial court had erred 
because  it  had  decided  the  suppression  motion  without  con­
ducting  a  full  evidentiary  hearing.  On  remand,  the  trial 
court conducted such a hearing and again granted the motion 
to suppress. 

As  a  matter  of  Michigan  law  it  is  well  settled  that  police 
ofﬁcers  may  enter  a  home  without  a  warrant  “when  they 
reasonably believe that a person within is in need of immedi­
ate aid.”  People v.  Davis, 442 Mich. 1, 25, 497 N. W. 2d 910, 
921 (1993).  We have stated the rule in the same way under 
federal law, Mincey v.  Arizona, 437 U. S. 385, 392 (1978), and 
have  explained  that  a  warrantless  entry  is  justiﬁed  by  the 
“ ‘need  to  protect  or  preserve  life  or  avoid  serious  injury,’ ” 
ibid.  The  State  bears  the  burden  of  proof  on  that  factual 
issue and relied entirely on the testimony of Ofﬁcer Goolsby 
in  its  attempt  to  carry  that  burden.  Since  three  years  had 
passed,  Goolsby  was  not  sure  about  certain  facts—such  as 
whether Fisher had a cut on his hand—but he did remember 
that Fisher repeatedly swore at the ofﬁcers and told them to