Opinion ID: 3062104
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Community Caretaker Exception

Text: Taylor also argues he lawfully arrested Storey in the performance of his community-caretaking duties. This argument, however, fails for the same reason as Taylor’s exigent-circumstances argument: the facts do not show a likelihood of violence such that Taylor’s actions were necessary to protect the safety of Storey, his wife, the officers, or others. See Lundstrom, 616 F.3d at 1124; cf. Brigham -16- City, 547 U.S. at 406. Thus, there were no “specific and articulable facts” to justify the intrusion on Storey’s liberty. Garner, 416 F.3d at 1213. We are not unsympathetic to officers in Taylor’s position, who in the performance of their duties must often make split-second decisions based on incomplete information. We also recognize these decisions are sometimes complicated in potential domestic violence situations, in which one occupant’s interest in privacy may be pitted against another’s safety. It is our hope that citizens would be cooperative with police under such circumstances. Nonetheless, these policy concerns must yield to the Fourth Amendment. Absent additional facts indicating a greater possibility of violence, a loud argument between spouses does not suffice to justify a warrantless seizure within the home.