Court Opinion

ID: 9786015
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 23:45:09.546044+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:40.763608
License: Public Domain

WERDEGAR, J., Concurring.
I concur in the majority’s conclusion the police entry into defendant’s home was unlawful. Unlike the majority, however, I would resolve the case simply by application of the established principle that, lacking probable cause, the officers’ warrantless entry into defendant’s home was in violation of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. (Minnesota v. Olson (1990) 495 U.S. 91, 100 [109 L.Ed.2d 85, 110 S.Ct. 1684].)
In speculating about the application of Maryland v. Buie (1990) 494 U.S. 325 [108 L.Ed.2d 276, 110 S.Ct. 1093] (Buie) to circumstances admittedly *681not present here, i.e., to a detention outside the home when police have a reasonable suspicion that persons inside the home might pose a danger to the officers (maj. opn., ante, at pp. 678-679), the majority goes far afield. Buie is completely inapposite to this case. Buie involved a lawful arrest, pursuant to a warrant, effected inside the defendant’s home. The high court held only that, incident to such an arrest, the officers could conduct a protective sweep of the immediate area of the arrest for purposes of officer safety and, on reasonable suspicion, a protective sweep of the entire house. (Buie, supra, at p. 334.) This case, by contrast, involves a detention, a detention, moreover, effected well outside the home and unattended by either probable cause or reasonable suspicion to believe dangerous persons would be found inside the house.
As the majority recognizes, “[t]he United States Supreme Court has indicated that entry into a home based on exigent circumstances requires probable cause to believe that the entry is justified” (maj. opn., ante, at p. 676). The high court also has recognized that, incident to a lawful arrest within a home, a protective sweep of the home beyond the immediate area of the arrest may be justified by reasonable suspicion. (Buie, supra, 494 U.S. at p. 334.) This case involves neither. Here police detained defendant outside his home. Accordingly, their warrantless entry into the home unsupported by probable cause violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. Our opinion need say no more.