Opinion ID: 1479520
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Illegal Entry

Text: We note initially that our Criminal Code does not expressly justify the use of a reasonable degree of nondeadly force upon another person by a law enforcement officer in criminal investigations as such, let alone to effect the entry of a person's home for the purpose of investigating criminal complaints. Such omission is meaningful, considering the sanctity of the home which the constitutions of both the State and the Nation expressly protect against unreasonable intrusions from governmental authorities. The Code, however, did fashion a rule of conduct providing justification by law enforcement officers in the use of force in making arrests, changing the common law concepts in that regard. [2] See State v. Austin, 381 A.2d 652 (Me.1978). On the other hand, the Code spells out the right of a person to use force against unwanted intrusions upon one's property, without differentiating between warrantless police personnel and other ordinary citizens. [3] It is not unreasonable for police officers in the pursuit of criminal investigations to seek information, as Officer Gagnon did in this case at the Boilard residence respecting the complaint which the police had received about the disturbing noise reportedly caused by Mr. Boilard and his sons. But this right to call at the home does not include the right to walk in against the wishes of the person in possession or in control of the premises. See State v. Crider, 341 A.2d 1, 4 (Me.1975). That the officer in this case was acting in complete good faith in the performance of necessary investigative duties in a manner recommended by official policy of his department does not make legal his forceful entry into the Boilard private dwelling against Boilard's express prohibition to do so. Warrantless official intrusions, without consent, upon the citizen's private property or reasonable expectancies of privacy, in the absence of probable cause and exigent circumstances, are constitutionally unauthorized and unjustified and constitute a trespass. See State v. Crider, supra at 5; see also State v. Richards, 296 A.2d 129, 137 (Me.1972). We hold that Officer Gagnon's forceful entry into the Boilard home against Mr. Boilard's consent constituted a trespass and was not legal as the judge of the District Court determined.