Opinion ID: 1152888
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Primary motivation for the search

Text: The United States Supreme Court has held that a warrantless search must be strictly circumscribed by the exigencies which justify its initiation. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 25-26, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1882, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). If the police actions exceed those necessary to meet the exigencies, assertions that they were motivated by the exigencies alone must be strictly scrutinized. Fisher, 141 Ariz. at 239, 686 P.2d at 762. The officers stayed in the trailer for approximately ninety seconds, only long enough to look for the children. They saw a bloody towel on the couch but did not disturb it or search for other evidence. Instead, they secured the trailer and waited for sheriff's officers to take other action. See id. (holding warrantless entry under the circumstances to be reasonable when police were inside for no more than two minutes). The evidence confirms that the officers' primary motivation in entering the trailer was to protect the welfare of the children. C. Reasonable basis to associate the emergency with the place to be searched The officers had reasonable grounds to associate the emergency with defendant's trailer. Angela Gray told the officer that defendant had returned to the trailer to check on the welfare of the other children. This, combined with the fact that she told them a suspicious story, gave the officers reasonable grounds to check the trailer to ensure the safety of the other children. Because the officers' warrantless entry was justified under the emergency aid exception, the entry was lawful. Therefore, the information concerning the bloody towel that the officers saw in plain view upon searching the trailer was permissibly used, along with other evidence, to obtain a search warrant. Because we conclude that the original warrantless entry was proper, we do not reach the state's alternative argument that the evidence later seized pursuant to the search warrant was also admissible under the independent source doctrine.