Opinion ID: 785535
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Exigent Circumstances Doctrine

Text: 65 Under a traditional Fourth Amendment analysis, exigent circumstances present an exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement for residential searches and seizures. Exigent circumstances involve a compelling necessity for immediate action as w[ould] not brook the delay of obtaining a warrant. United States v. Wilson, 36 F.3d 205, 209 (1st Cir.1994)(quoting United States v. Adams, 621 F.2d 41, 44 (1980)). The exigent circumstances analysis is necessarily fact-intensive and is limited to the objective facts reasonably known to, or discoverable by, the officers at the time of the search. Tibolt, 72 F.3d at 969. As the majority notes, this circuit has recognized that exigent circumstances may exist where a suspect poses a threat to the lives or safety of the public, the police officers, or to herself. Hegarty v. Somerset Cty., 53 F.3d 1367, 1375 (1st Cir.1995). 66 Yet exigent circumstances alone cannot excuse the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement for residential searches and seizures. While the majority is correct that a risk to the safety of the public or the police may rise to the level of an exigent circumstance, our case law is clear that this exigency justifies a warrantless residential search or seizure only where it is also supported by probable cause. See, e.g., United States v. Bartelho, 71 F.3d 436, 442 (1st Cir.1995); United States v. Lopez, 989 F.2d 24, 27 (1st Cir.1993). Thus, the traditional exigent circumstances doctrine requires two separate elements. The exigent circumstance element focuses on circumstances that are incident to the criminal investigation, such as a risk of flight, the destruction of evidence, or a risk to police officer safety. The probable cause element focuses on the suspicion of criminal activity, which must amount to probable cause to believe that a crime has been or is being committed. In the absence of a valid search warrant or consent, both elements must be present in order to justify a search or seizure within a private residence.