Opinion ID: 2277872
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Execution of Arrest Warrants Hovington's Pursuit and Detention

Text: As a preliminary matter, Hovington contends that the law enforcement officers had no legal authority to pursue and detain him when they arrived to execute the arrest warrants for Haugabook and Augustin. In assessing the propriety of detaining an occupant of premises which were being searched pursuant to a valid warrant, the United States Supreme Court has stated: both the law enforcement interest and the nature of the articulable facts supporting the detention are relevant. Most obvious is the legitimate law enforcement interest in preventing flight in the event that incriminating evidence is found. Less obvious, but sometimes of greater importance, is the interest of minimizing the risk of harm to the officers.... [T]he execution of a warrant to search for narcotics is the kind of transaction that may give rise to sudden violence or frantic efforts to conceal or destroy evidence. The risk of harm to both the police and the occupants is minimized if the officers routinely exercise unquestioned command of the situation. Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. 692, 702, 101 S.Ct. 2587, 2594, 69 L.Ed.2d 340 (1981). The same rationale applies to the execution of a warrant to arrest someone for a narcotics violation. See Maryland v. Buie, 494 U.S. 325, 110 S.Ct. 1093, 1097-1098, 108 L.Ed.2d 276 (1990); Accord Downs v. State, Del.Supr., 570 A.2d 1142 (1990). [5] When the officers arrived to execute the arrest warrants, Hovington and the subjects of those warrants (Haugabook and Augustin) all fled. Hovington's flight in response to a showing of lawful authority, in the context of the background facts known to the officers, supplied a reasonable basis for pursuing Hovington for the purpose of conducting an investigative stop. U.S. v. Lane, 909 F.2d 895, 899 (6th Cir.1990). [6] The officers were operating in a potentially dangerous secluded area, already known to them for its narcotics trade. Hovington may have been fleeing to destroy evidence or to obtain weapons. Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. at 702, 101 S.Ct. at 2594. By pursuing Hovington as he fled from the scene, the officers acted properly in exercising unquestioned command of the situation in order to minimize the risk of harm to themselves and all persons who were present. Id.