Opinion ID: 160733
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reasonable belief arrestee is within the residence

Text: 17 Under the second prong of the Payton test, the officers must reasonably believe Mr. Gay was within the residence or present at the time of entry. We recognize we must be sensitive to common sense factors indicating a resident's presence. Valdez, 172 F.3d at 1226 (quotation marks omitted). The officers are not required to actually view the suspect on the premises. Id. Indeed the officers may take into account the fact that a person involved in criminal activity may be attempting to conceal his whereabouts. Id. 18 In this case, the officers relied on the confidential informant to form their belief Mr. Gay was within the dwelling at the time of entry. The informant, who knew Mr. Gay personally, knew of his drug selling activities, and visited the Pottinger Street residence on numerous occasions, explicitly told the officers Mr. Gay was currently in his home. Soon after the confidential informant told them of Mr. Gay's presence, Deputy McNeil knocked loudly on the front door of the residence and heard a thud from inside the home, which suggested to him a person was inside the duplex at that time. After hearing the thud, the officers forcibly entered the Pottinger Street residence. Here, too, because the officers received information concerning Mr. Gay's whereabouts in a face-to-face encounter with the informant, we hold the officers could rely on the same informant's tip Mr. Gay was within the residence at the time of entry. 19 Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, as we must, and considering the totality of the circumstances, we hold the officers reasonably believed Mr. Gay lived in the residence and was within the residence at the time of entry. See Long, 176 F.3d at 1307.