Court Opinion

ID: 9772261
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 17:12:16.000192+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:43.003803
License: Public Domain

STUMBO, Justice,
dissents.
Respectfully, I must dissent. This opinion will send the message that officers seeking to execute a search warrant no longer must evaluate the circumstances surrounding execution for exigent circumstances. Simply pretend to be the pizza man or the Avon lady, it says. Once the door is opened to the ruse, announce your true identity and all is well. Never mind that in the future, the nervous homeowner, who may well have some nefarious activity ongoing, may decide that any erroneously directed delivery person is a disguised law enforcement officer and react with tragic results.
The United States Supreme Court has defined the circumstances requiring a knock- and-announce entry into a private residence. Exigent circumstances have likewise been the subject of much legal writing. This case falls within none of the exceptions set forth in those opinions and simply serves to demonstrate that the Court’s reverence for the sanctity of the individual’s home is no longer of paramount importance in the Commonwealth. I cannot agree with the majority and dread the day when fruits of this opinion arrive for this Court’s review.
STEPHENS, C.J., joins.