Opinion ID: 293653
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Validity of Night-Time Warrantless Entry of Defendant's Dwelling To Arrest him for Robbery

Text: 4 These are the pertinent facts as they appear from the transcript of the trial and Dorman's motion to suppress the suit of clothes, supplemented by the remand proceedings. 5 Shortly after 6 p.m. on a Friday evening, four armed men entered Carl's Men's Shop. In the store were three salesmen, two customers, a man and his wife, and a co-owner of the shop. The men entered in pairs. Dorman, one of the first two in the store, and wearing blue-black corduroy pants, asked salesman Holmes if he could see a size 38 blue sharkskin suit similar to one in the window. By the time Holmes returned with such a suit from the stock room the other two men had entered the store, drawn a gun, and announced, 'This is it.' Dorman, who had also drawn a gun, relieved Holmes of the suit. Holmes and the other five victims were herded into the stock room while the weapons were freely brandished. Jones pointed a gun at the head of another salesman and poked him with it a couple of times. One of the robbers put a gun to the chin of the male customer, Richards, and said, 'Do not look,' and put the gun to his chin to move his head up so he would not observe them. 6 The gunmen ushered the six persons into the stock room, stripped them of their billfolds, watches and rings, bound them around the ankles and wrists with neckties taken from a nearby rack, and made them lie on the floor. Two of the robbers remained in the stockroom, pointed guns at the victims and made threats. The other two rummaged about the store, looking for money and clothes of certain sizes. During this period a shot was fired in the back room 'when they were passing the gun from one to another.' 7 An officer on traffic duty across from the store saw three men emerge with their arms full of clothes. He pursued one of them, but was unsuccessful. Police were swiftly called to the scene, and they investigated the premises from 7:00 to 7:45 p.m. Detective Blancato found on the floor of a changing room a pair of dark corduroy pants, and copies of a monthly probation report showing the name and address of defendant Dorman. Apparently Dorman left the store wearing the blue sharkskin suit. 8 Detective Blancato phoned the Identification Bureau and shortly after 8:00 p.m. he learned that the files contained Dorman's photograph. He drove three victims to headquarters, arriving at 8:30 p.m., and the victims made a photographic identification of Dorman. 9 In accordance with established procedure the detective called the Assistant United States Attorney designated for the purpose, to report the facts of the case, in order to obtain approval to proceed with the arrest of the person believed guilty of the crime. As the district Court stated in the remand findings, this practice insures that a responsible legally trained individual will give his preliminary approval before the matter is referred to a magistrate. The established procedure made it the responsibility of the designated Assistant United States Attorney to locate a magistrate or judge for the issuance of an appropriate warrant. Detective Blancato began typing out the affidavit to accompany the application for an arrest warrant. When he was about finished the Assistant United States Attorney called him and told him that no magistrate was available, but that since a felony was involved, Dorman could be arrested without a warrant. The District Judge's remand findings set forth that the designated Assistant had no recollection of the events of that evening, that the then U.S. Commissioner, if called, would have testified that he probably was not available apparently because Friday nights he had dinner with his mother. The judge of the Court of General Sessions designated for the purpose of authorizing warrants at that time was the late Honorable Andrew Howard. He died prior to the remand proceeding. 10 The remand findings set forth the circumstances which in the opinion of the District Judge justified Dorman's arrest without a warrant as follows: The police had positive identification of three eyewitnesses, and positive evidence of Dorman's current address. They had reason to believe Dorman might flee when he became aware of the loss of his probation papers identifying him. They knew Dorman and his associates were dangerous-- they were armed and had physically abused their victims. The most likely place to find him after 10 p.m. was his home. The District Judge credited their testimony that the only purpose of the visit to his home was to arrest him. They needed no additional physical evidence. 11 About 10:20 p.m. the police arrived at Dorman's home, knocked twice and announced their identity. Dorman's mother answered the door, in her night-gown. When the police said they were looking for her son, she told them that he had been there but had left some minutes earlier, and suggested that if they did not believe her, they could come in and look for themselves. At that point, 'We heard a noise from one of the back bedrooms.' In the belief that Dorman was hiding within, the police brushed past Mrs. Dorman and encountered one Allen, a man friend of Mrs. Dorman who lived in the apartment, coming out of a bedroom. 12 Blancato and the officers continued their search for Dorman. Some policemen looked in the other rooms, and behind a sofa pulled far enough away from the wall to conceal a man. Blancato pushed open the slightly-ajar door of a walk-in closet with the barrel of his shotgun. Inside the closet, 'right in front of us,' was a blue suit. The unhemmed cuffs were visible beneath the suit jacket. The suit bore the label of Carl's Men's Shop. 13 Blancato left two of his men in the apartment to apprehend Dorman if he returned. The District Court credited his statement that this was with the acquiescence of Mrs. Dorman because it lessened the danger of a shoot-out and for that reason was preferable to a stakeout. 14 B. General Requirement of Need for Warrant To Enter a Home Without Consent In Order To Search for a Suspect Sought for Arrest 15 The issue is whether the police acted unreasonably, and in violation of constitutional rights, when they proceeded, in furtherance of their objective to arrest a suspect they had probable cause to believe was an armed felon, to make a warrentless, unconsented, non-forcible entry into his home late in the evening, at a time some few hours after the offense and within an hour after they obtained eyewitness identification of the suspect, and when a magistrate was not readily available. 16 The Supreme Court has not explicitly passed on this question. 1 The literature abounds in discussion of the permissibility of an arrest made without a warrant, but there is little if any analysis focusing on entry into a dwelling for the purpose of an arrest. However, we think the pertinent principles, and their application to the case before us, are fairly to be apprehended from the Fourth Amendment precedents, keeping in mind the many circumstances, permutations and variables that must be taken into account in the ultimate determination of reasonableness. 17 The Fourth Amendment proclaims: 'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.' 18 The Fourth Amendment protects a right of privacy. This is a right that is increasingly recognized in decisions involving this and other provisions of the Constitution as a core protection safeguarding all citizens against unwarranted intrusions by police and other government officials. 2 19 The Fourth Amendment provides protection even as to arrest in a public place, though in such cases the requirement is only that there be probable cause and there is no additional requirement of recourse to a warrant. 3 A greater burden is placed, however, on officials who enter a home or dwelling without consent. Freedom from intrusion into the home or dwelling is the archetype of the privacy protection secured by the Fourth Amendment. 4 In general a home may not be searched without a warrant notwithstanding probable cause. 5 20 It is not our province to reconsider the pertinent Supreme Court decisions. 6 The requirement of a warrant, as now generally understood, rests primarily on the conception that it is for a judicial officer, and not the prosecutor or police, to determine whether the security of our society, which is essential to the maintenance of a rule of law, requires that the right of privacy yield to a right of entry, search and seizure, and what limitation and specification of entry may be appropriate and reasonable. Justice Jackson's pen made the point memorably in the oft-quoted passage in Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14, 68 S.Ct. 367, 369, 92 L.Ed. 436 (1948): 21 The point of the Fourth Amendment, which often is not grasped by zealous officers, is not that it denies law enforcement the support of the usual inferences which reasonable men draw from evidence. Its protection consists in requiring that those inferences be drawn by a neutral and detached magistrate instead of being judged by the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime.    The right of officers to thrust themselves into a home is    a grave concern, not only to the individual but to a society which chooses to dwell in reasonable security and freedom from surveillance. When the right of privacy must reasonably yield to the right of search is as a rule, to be decided by a judicial officer, not by a policeman or Government enforcement agent. 22 The general need for and importance of a warrant, in regard to Fourth Amendment issues, is a doctrine of continuing and increasing vigor. In Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523, 87 S.Ct. 1727, 18 L.Ed.2d 930 (1967), the Court overturned a precedent set only eight years previous 7 to hold that searches incident to administrative inspections are subject to the warrant requirement. 8 23 In the light of the purpose of the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of 'unreasonable' searches and seizure, to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasions by government officials, the Court reiterated that 'except in certain carefully defined classes of cases,' a search of private property without proper consent is 'unreasonable' unless authorized by a valid warrant (387 U.S. at 528-529, 87 S.Ct. at 1731), the exception being viewed as one to permit 'prompt inspections, even without a warrant    in emergency situations.' (387 U.S. at 539, 87 S.Ct. at 1736). 24 We also take note of Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 89 S.Ct. 2034, 23 L.Ed.2d 685 (1969), where the Court importantly restricted the scope of a search of premises that could be made without a warrant on the ground that it was incident to an arrest, restricted it to the area immediately within the access of the suspect which might yield weapons or other means of escape or danger. 25 We now come to the question whether the general requirement of a warrant as a condition for entry into a house is subject to an exception where the entry is for the purpose of making an arrest of a suspected felon. As we shall later point out, the requirement of a warrant may be excused where circumstances do not tolerate delay, like that incident to obtaining a warrant, of an officer making an arrest. But the basic principle, the constitutional safeguard that, with room for exceptions, assures citizens the privacy and security of their homes unless a judicial officer determines that it must be overridden, is applicable not only in case of entry to search for property, but also in case of entry in order to arrest a suspect. This is the rule that was declared by Judge Prettyman, a student of this problem, after consideration of the authorities 9 in Morrison v. United States, 104 U.S.App.D.C. 352, 355, 262 F.2d 449, 452 (1958): 26 The officers entered the house to make a search. It was, to be sure, a search for a person rather than the usual search for an article of property, but it was a search. The officers made this indubitably clear in their testimony; they went into the house to look for Morrison. It is true they intended to arrest him if they found him, and so the ultimate objective was an arrest. The Government urges that this latter fact requires that we apply the rules of law pertaining to arrest rather than the rules governing search. But the search was a factual prerequisite to an arrest; it was the first objective of the entry; the officers did in fact search the house. They entered to make a search as a necessary prerequisite to possible arrest. 27 The same principle applies to an unconsented entry for the purpose of arrest, even though as in this case there was no intent to search the house for property, and the search for the suspect was not specifically visualized at the outset but was a prospect inherent in the situation. Subject to exceptions for circumstances, that constitutional principle prohibits invasion of the privacy of the home by unconsented entry unless need therefor has been determined by a warrant. 28 C. The Principle of Urgent Need as Establishing an Exception Justifying Warrantless Entry To Make An Arrest in Situations like the Case at Bar 29 The principle of need operates to justify a judicial officer in issuing a warrant authorizing an invasion of the privacy of a home, provided he acts within the bounds of probable cause and reasonableness. Another and narrower principle of need, a principle of urgent need, also operates to justify warrantless entries with requisite need determined by an officer and not by a court. 30 There is precedent stating that every case, whatever the officer or his mission, is governed by the principle requiring a warrant unless 'an immediate major crisis in the performance of duty affords neither time nor opportunity to apply to a magistrate.' 10 31 It is possible that some such unifying field theory may be attainable. But it probably serves to focus analysis and provide clarity of the justification for a warrantless entry for purpose of arrest if there is put to one side the particulars of cases involving, say, administrative searches, where the exception has been cast in terms of 'emergency,' 11 or searches of homes not involving any element of entry for purpose of arrest. The courts have always recognized the case of arrest as a case involving its own considerations. 12 32 The scope of warrantless searches in cases of arrest reaches not inconsiderable breadth by virtue of the doctrine upholding a warrantless search made incident to a lawful arrest, where the area and purpose of the search serve to protect the arresting officer or avoid escape or destruction of evidence. 13 33 Another doctrine excusing failure to obtain a warrant in case of entry for arrest has been cast in terms of 'exigent circumstances,' or 'necessitous circumstances.' 14 While some decisions also refer to condition of 'hot pursuit,' this term is not a limitation but rather an illustration of the kind of exigent circumstance justifying entry without a warrant to arrest a suspect. 15 34 In Warden v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 87 S.Ct. 1642, 18 L.Ed.2d 782 (1967), the majority conspicuously avoided the 'hot pursuit' formulation put forward by the concurring judges, and instead focused on the danger of an armed robber at large, saying (pp. 298-299, 87 S.Ct. pp. 1645-1646): 35 We agree with the Court of Appeals that neither the entry without warrant to search for the robber, nor the search for him without warrant was invalid. Under the circumstances of this case, 'the exigencies of the situation made that course imperative.' McDonald v. United States, 335 U.S. 451, 456, 69 S.Ct. 191, 93 L.Ed. 153. The police were informed that an armed robbery had taken place, and that the suspect had entered 2111 Cocoa Lane less than five minutes before they reached it. They acted reasonably when they entered the house and began to search for a man of the description they had been given and for weapons which he had used in the robbery or might use against them. The Fourth Amendment does not require police officers to delay in the course of an investigation if to do so would gravely endanger their lives or the lives of others. Speed here was essential, and only a thorough search of the house for persons and weapons could have insured that Hayden was the only man present and that the police had control of all weapons which could be used against them or to effect an escape. 36 Terms like 'exigent circumstances' or 'urgent need' are useful in underscoring the heavy burden on the police to show that there was a need that could not brook the delay incident to obtaining a warrant, and that it is only in the light of those circumstances and that need that the warrantless search meets the ultimate test of avoiding condemnation under the Fourth Amendment as 'unreasonable.' While the numerous and varied street fact situations do not permit a comprehensive catalog of the cases covered by these terms, it may be useful to refer to a number of considerations that are material, and have particular pertinence in the case at bar. 37 First, that a grave offense is involved, particularly one that is a crime of violence. See, e.g., Warden v. Hayden, supra; McDonald v. United States, 335 U.S. 451, 459, 69 S.Ct. 191, 93 L.Ed. 153 (1948) (concurring opinion of Justice Jackson). Contrariwise the restrictive requirement for a warrant is more likely to be retained, and the need for proceeding without a warrant found lacking, when the offense is what has been sometimes referred to as one of the 'complacent' crimes, like gambling. 16 38 Second, and obviously inter-related, that the suspect is reasonably believed to be armed. Delay in arrest of an armed felon may well increase danger to the community meanwhile, or to the officers at time of arrest. This consideration bears materially on the justification for a warrantless entry. 17 39 Third, that there exists not merely the minimum of probable cause, that is requisite even when a warrant has been issued, 18 but beyond that a clear showing of probable cause, including 'reasonably trustworthy information,' to believe that the suspect committed the crime involved. 19 40 Fourth, strong reason to believe that the suspect is in the premises being entered. 20 41 Fifth, a likelihood that the suspect will escape if not swiftly apprehended. 42 Sixth, the circumstance that the entry, though not consented, is made peaceably. 21 Forcible entry may in some instances be justified. 22 But the fact that entry was not forcible aids in showing reasonableness of police attitude and conduct. The police, by identifying their mission, give the person an opportunity to surrender himself without a struggle and thus to avoid the invasion of privacy involved in entry into the home. 43 Another factor to be taken into account, though it works in more than one direction, relates to time of entry-- whether it is made at night. On the one hand, as we shall later develop, the late hour may underscore the delay (and perhaps impracticability of) obtaining a warrant, and hence serve to justify proceeding without one. On the other hand, the fact that an entry is made at night raises particular concern over its reasonableness, as indicated in Justice Harlan's opinion in Jones v. United States, supra, and may elevate the degree of probable cause required, both as implicating the suspect, and as showing that he is in the place entered (see note 20). 44 We see no basis for disturbing the judgment of the District Court that the case at bar presented the kind of exigent circumstances and urgent need that justified an entry into Dorman's home without the delay incident to a warrant. Dorman had been positively identified as one who had committed a crime of violence. He and his associates had been armed and abused their victims. There was no special knowlege that he was home, but concepts of probable cause and reasonableness prima facie justify looking for a man at home after 10 p.m. 45 There was at least a possibility that delay might permit escape, when and if the suspect came to realize his papers had been left behind. These factors are offset somewhat, but not decisively, by the circumstance that the entry after 10 p.m. came some four hours after the offense. This was not a case of hot pursuit, unless that term is to be stretched beyond all reasonable meaning. But the ultimate underlying factors were similar to those involved in a case of hot pursuit. The police were still dealing with a relatively recent crime, and prompt arrest might locate and recover the instrumentalities and fruits of the crime before otherwise disposed of. And the delay was not of their own making, which might undercut the showing of reasonableness. The courts have respect for the intelligent law enforcement activities of the police, situated as they are in the front line of the campaign for law and order, and this case plainly depicts police officers engaged steadily and systematically in the identification and pursuit of the criminal suspects. Last, but not least, the entry was made peacefully, and after announcement of purpose. 46 The search made upon peaceable entry was only to locate the person of the suspect, on suspicion that the noise heard was made by the suspect in hiding. If the entry to make an arrest was lawful, the police acted reasonably in looking behind sofas and in closets to locate the suspect. There was no rummaging of drawers, etc., to cloud the purpose of the police. Since we hold that the police acted reasonably and lawfully when they took the action without a warrant of entering the house and searching for Dorman in appropriate places, no valid objection can be made to their conduct, when in the course of the search in the closet for Dorman they saw the uncuffed trousers readily identifiable as coming from the store that had been robbed, in seizing this clothing notwithstanding the absence of a warrant. Harris v. United States, 390 U.S. 234, 88 S.Ct. 992, 19 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1968). 47 D. Delay That Would Have Been Involved In Obtaining a Warrant 48 To complete the analysis we must consider the other side of the question: what delay would have been involved in obtaining a warrant? There are emergencies, including a close-running hot pursuit, which cannot brook even a delay of minutes. However, in the case before us, involving as it did an investigation that required a visit to a police central office in order to obtain information (here, identification of photograph), and thereby facilitated access to the chambers of a judge or commissioner, there is no testimony that the kind of short delay inherent in the making of any application for a warrant would be intolerable. As Judge Burger has noted: 'That delay may be encountered, however, is not controlling on whether a warrant is required; securing a warrant always involves some additional time.' Chappell v. United States, supra note 21. 49 Responsible police are aware that a responsible procedure which accords to the police the latitude for intelligent law enforcement but withholds absolute discretion is the sound approach for securing the overall combination of law and justice that is the inspiration of a democratic society. 50 And so it was that at about 8:30 p.m., in accordance with established produre, Detective Blancato began typing up the application for an arrest warrant, while the Assistant United States Attorney took steps to locate the appropriate magistrate. 51 The circumstances that unfolded extended the delay incident to obtaining a warrant considerably, and, in the view of police and prosecution, unduly. The General Sessions judge assigned to this duty was not available. We don't know why, but even the most reasonable and best-regulated of procedures sometimes yawns at the seams, and the question arises as to the consequence. It was a Friday night and the (part-time) commissioner was not available, possibly having dinner at his mother's. 52 It has been suggested that in these circumstances the police and prosecution had no choice but to try, with all diligence, to obtain a warrant from other sources. Although 18 U.S.C. 3041 provides that any justice or judge of the United States, or state judge or mayor of a city, may arrest for any offense against the United States, in practice in this jurisdiction only the U.S. Commissioner (now the U.S. magistrates), judges of the Court of General Sessions and judges of the United States District Court are called upon with respect to the issuance of warrants. Had the prosecutor persisted he could probably have located one of these judges. Counsel have stipulated that there were as many as 119 justices or judges of the United States authorized to issue a warrant (excluding the judges of General Sessions), though one may cock a skeptical eye at the scenario of a knock on the door of, say, a judge of the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, to ask him to take on the unfamiliar task of determining whether an affidavit established probable cause for an arrest warrant. 53 For all practical purposes the then-applicable procedure provided the equivalent of a state trial judge on assignment for consideration of evening applications for the arrest warrant. With the happenstance of unavailability this particular night, it was reasonable, taking into account the circumstances already related (under C), to make an arrest without risking the further delay incident to locating another judge to issue a warrant. Other courts have noted the materiality of the difficulty of obtaining a warrant late at night, 23 or in the early morning hours before the start of a normal working day. 24 54 We have no basis for saying that a system of consideration of applications for warrants is 'unreasonable' unless it provides a scheduled term of court at night. What is involved is a question of allocation of resources, and possible diversion of resources from needs that stand higher in the interest of justice. The Court of General Sessions did indeed experiment in 1968 with a system of Court sessions at night and over the weekends, and gave up the experiment on reaching the conclusion that it amounted overall to a diversion of judges from busy courtroom schedules to an assignment of minimal activity and accomplishment. 55 While we do not fault the action taken in the case at bar as unreasonable, we are also concerned with the reasonableness of the overall provision for nighttime warrants. Various suggestions for inquiry were made in the dissent to the original panel opinion. We are advised, both at argument and by documents lodged with the court, that the prosecution officials have had conferences with the two new magistrates authorized for this District pursuant to the Federal Magistrates Act. The magistrates have set up a systematic schedule for availability at home, where a duplicate set of seals is maintained. It may well result that this will represent greater availability in fact than the prior system, taking into account that for these magistrates the issuance of warrants represents a prime activity, to be pursued diligently, rather than an extra duty superimposed on daytime trial occupation. In any event, an effort has been begun to regularize and enhance availability of magistrates outside normal office hours for the purpose of issuing arrest and search warrants. 56 The procedure contemplates screening by Assistant United States Attorneys before law enforcement officials make such application to the magistrate at home. Each month the United States Attorney prepares a list of Assistant United States Attorneys available during that month at night and over weekends for access by law enforcement officials who wish to secure arrest and search warrants. A copy of that list is sent to the Metropolitan Police Department, and the various other law enforcement agencies who may have need of this service, the Park Police and Capitol Police, the local field offices of the FBI, Postal Inspector, Secret Service and Bureau of Narcotic Drugs. 57 In addition to the considerations already mentioned, a warrant procedure available for late hours and weekends has an advantage, from the police-prosecution point of view, of providing an extra measure of protection. In doubtful cases where a warrantless arrest may be undermined by a finding of lack of probable cause the intervening judgment of the magistrate provides an additional weight that may uphold the arrest. United States. v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 106, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965). The police-prosecution may also be protected against a contention that the entry of the particular premises was invalid as 'unreasonable' because there was no reasonable basis for belief that the suspect was in those premises, if the magistrate adds to the normal arrest warrant under Rule 4 an authorization to enter designated premises similar to that customarily made in a warrant under Rule 41 to search a named place for property. 25 58 In any event, we are satisfied that the program that has been developed in the District of Columbia following conferences between the prosecution and the magistrates has the hallmarks of reasonableness, evidencing as it does an awareness of the importance of the warrant requirement and a resolve to satisfy that requirement, unless particular circumtances intervene to establish urgent need for a warrantless arrest or search. Time may reveal weaknesses and point the way to supplements in the program. The program as it stands suffices to obviate any need for interjection by the court at this time, e.g., for consideration of reversal of this conviction for the purpose of a prophylactic rule. We believe that affirmance of the conviction is in the interest of justice.