Opinion ID: 2383709
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Fourth Amendment states:

Text: 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. [ U.S. Const. amend. IV (emphasis added).] New Jersey's constitution provides similarly. See N.J. Const. art. I, ¶ 7 (mirroring federal requirement). [T]he `physical entry of the home is the chief evil against which the wording of the Fourth Amendment is directed.' Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 585, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 1379, 63 L.Ed. 2d 639, 650 (1980) (quoting United States v. United States District Court, 407 U.S. 297, 313, 92 S.Ct. 2125, 2134-35, 32 L.Ed. 2d 752, 764 (1972)). It is a basic principle of Fourth Amendment law that searches and seizures inside a man's house without a warrant are per se unreasonable.... Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 477-78, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 2044, 29 L.Ed. 2d 564, 589-90 (1970); see also State v. Henry, 133 N.J. 104, 110, 627 A. 2d 125 (1993), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 114 S.Ct. 486, 126 L.Ed. 2d 436 (1994) (same) (quoting Payton, supra, 445 U.S. at 586, 100 S.Ct. at 1380, 63 L.Ed. 2d at 651). Courts have always emphasized the distinction between a warrantless search and a search pursuant to a warrant. The requirement that police obtain a warrant safeguards citizens by placing the determination of probable cause in the hands of a neutral magistrate before an arrest or search is authorized. Henry, supra, 133 N.J. at 110, 627 A. 2d 125. A police officer therefore with a valid arrest warrant has the right to execute the warrant by arresting a defendant at his or her home. State v. Bruzzese, 94 N.J. 210, 228-29, 463 A. 2d 320 (1983) cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1030, 104 S.Ct. 1295, 79 L.Ed. 2d 695 (1984) (citation omitted). As the Supreme Court explained: For Fourth Amendment purposes, an arrest warrant founded on probable cause implicitly carries with it the limited authority to enter a dwelling in which the suspect lives when there is reason to believe the suspect is within. Payton, supra, 445 U.S. at 603, 100 S.Ct. at 1388, 63 L.Ed. 2d at 661. Thus, the police have the right to execute an arrest warrant on a defendant at his or her home, and they may enter the home to search for the defendant when there is probable cause to believe that he or she is there.