Court Opinion

ID: 9606375
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:49:25.960758+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:34.365813
License: Public Domain

RABINOWITZ, Justice,
concurring.
On the particular facts of the case at bar, I conclude that the search of the movie theatre premises by Officers Kalwara and Coyle comes within the emergency aid exception to the warrant requirement. See Schraff v. State, 544 P.2d 834, 841 (Alaska 1975); Stevens v. State, 443 P.2d 600, 602 (Alaska 1968). Thus, I conclude that the superior court’s order granting Myers’ motion to suppress should be vacated.
The essential components of the emergency aid exception to the warrant requirement are aptly articulated by the court in People v. Mitchell, 39 N.Y.2d 173, 383 N.Y.S.2d 246, 248, 347 N.E.2d 607, 609, cert. denied, 426 U.S. 953, 96 S.Ct. 3178, 49 L.Ed.2d 1191 (1976):
(1) The police must have reasonable grounds to believe that there is an emergency at hand and an immediate need for their assistance for the protection of life or property.
(2) The search must not be primarily motivated by intent to arrest and seize evidence.
(3) There must be some reasonable basis, approximating probable cause, to associate the emergency with the area or place to be searched.
In brief, I would expressly adopt the emergency aid exception as delineated in Mitchell and, on the facts relied upon by the majority, uphold the search in question.