Opinion ID: 2365342
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the domestic violence context

Text: ¶ 14 We determine whether the police encountered an exigent circumstance permitting entry without a warrant on the specific facts presented. State v. Raines, 55 Wash. App. 459, 464, 778 P.2d 538 (1989) (citing State v. Lynd, 54 Wash.App. 18, 22, 771 P.2d 770 (1989)). Domestic violence presents unique challenges for law enforcement. Domestic violence situations can be volatile and quickly escalate into significant injury. Domestic violence often, if not usually, occurs within the privacy of a home. Our legislature has recognized that the risk of repeated and escalating acts of violence is greater in the domestic context. RCW 10.99.040(2)(a). The legislature has sought to provide maximum protection to victims of domestic violence through a policy of early intervention. RCW 10.99.010. The Court of Appeals has recognized that [p]olice officers responding to a domestic violence report have a duty to ensure the present and continued safety and well-being of the occupants. Raines, 55 Wash.App. at 465, 778 P.2d 538. ¶ 5 This court has not yet specifically addressed the emergency aid exception to the warrant requirement in the context of domestic violence, but the Court of Appeals has. See, e.g., State v. Johnson, 104 Wash. App. 409, 16 P.3d 680 (2001) (emergency aid exception justified a warrantless entry after a report that a victim of domestic violence had locked herself in a bathroom, the defendant had a cut on his wrist and was slow to answer questions about location of the victim); State v. Menz, 75 Wash.App. 351, 880 P.2d 48 (1994) (warrantless entry was justified after police received a phone call reporting domestic violence in progress; upon arrival officers observed that the door was ajar, the lights and television were on, and no one responded to knocks or announcements); Raines, 55 Wash.App. at 462, 778 P.2d 538 (warrantless entry justified when householder stepped aside and allowed officers in when they asked if they could look around); Lynd, 54 Wash.App. 18, 771 P.2d 770 (warrantless entry was justified when a person called 911 and hung up, return calls met a busy signal, defendant admitted outside his home to assaulting the victim, the defendant was packing a car as if preparing to leave, and the defendant did not want the officer to look in the house). As these cases illustrate, the fact that police are responding to a situation that likely involves domestic violence may be an important factor in evaluating both the subjective belief of the officer that someone likely needs assistance and in assessing the reasonableness of the officer's belief that there is an imminent threat of injury. Domestic violence protection must also, of course, be consistent with the protection the state constitution has secured for the sanctity and privacy of the home. WASH. CONST. art. I, § 7; Ferrier, 136 Wash.2d at 112, 960 P.2d 927 (citing Young, 123 Wash.2d at 185, 867 P.2d 593).