Court Opinion

ID: 9542465
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:34:41.123603+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:08:01.202091
License: Public Domain

GEORGE, C. J., Concurring.
I agree with the lead opinion that the officers’ warrantless entry into the residence was proper, but I reach that conclusion by applying the “exigent circumstances” exception to the warrant requirement as discussed in People v. Duncan (1986) 42 Cal.3d 91 [227 Cal.Rptr. 654, 720 P.2d 2].
*481In Duncan, a police officer “responded to a radio call that a burglary was in progress or had just occurred. He arrived promptly at the scene and spoke to a neighbor” who stated he had seen suspects outside the residence. (People v. Duncan, supra, 42 Cal.3d 91, 95.) The officer inspected the residence and found “the doors locked but a back window open. On the ground beneath the window was a box containing a television set and other items. Surmising that one or more of the burglars was still inside, [the officer] climbed in the open window to search for intruders.” (Id. at pp. 95-96.) There were no burglars in the residence, but the officer found himself in the midst of “an illicit drug laboratory.” (Id. at p. 96.)
To justify this warrantless entry, the People relied upon the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement. “We have defined ‘exigent circumstances’ to include ‘an emergency situation requiring swift action to prevent imminent danger to life or serious damage to property . . . .’ [Citation.] The action must be ‘prompted by the motive of preserving life or property and [must] reasonably appearf] to the actor to be necessary for that purpose.’ [Citation.]” (People v. Duncan, supra, 42 Cal.3d 91, 97.)
We held that the warrantless entry was justified by the exigent circumstance of a burglary in progress, noting that the defendants had conceded “that an officer may enter a dwelling without a warrant if he reasonably believes a burglary is being committed therein.” (People v. Duncan, supra, 42 Cal.3d 91, 98.) The officer reasonably believed that a burglary was in progress, because he had heard a police broadcast that a burglary either had occurred or was occurring and had spoken to a neighbor who had seen suspects outside the residence. Upon inspecting the residence, the officer “found an open window with a television and other articles beneath it.” (Ibid.)
In the present case as well, the officers were justified in entering the residence without a warrant, because they reasonably believed that a burglary was in progress or that a burglary had occurred and there might be occupants in need of assistance inside the residence. The officers received a police dispatch that the door of the residence had been open all day and “it’s all a shambles inside.” The officers went to the residence and found the door open approximately two feet. Looking inside, one officer saw “clothing, paper, strewn on the ground, on the sofa. It was just a real mess inside.” That officer stated that it “looked like somebody had gone through the house.” The other officer testified that from his experience he believed there was a “95 percent” likelihood the premises had been burglarized. After knocking on the door with no response, the officers entered “to see if anyone inside might be injured, disabled, or unable to obtain help” and to determine whether a burglary had been committed or was in progress.
*482Under these circumstances, it was reasonable for the officers to enter the residence without a warrant. Exigent circumstances existed, because the officers had reasonable cause to believe a burglary was in progress, or that a burglary had been committed and there might be persons inside the residence in need of assistance. Accordingly, I agree that the judgment of the Court of Appeal should be affirmed.
Werdegar, J., and Chin, J., concurred.