Court Opinion

ID: 9738483
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:54:24.606425+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:06.469825
License: Public Domain

MESCHKE, Justice,
concurring.
This is a developing subject. While I join in the majority opinion, I write to suggest there may be questions of fact for the jury, other than those outlined in this opinion. There may even be other questions of law for jury instructions on this subject. But no questions about the jury instructions were posed by this appeal. See NDCC § 29-06-15 (warrantless arrest permissible for a misdemeanor offense committed in officer’s presence); State v. Ackerman, 499 N.W.2d 882, 885 (N.D.1993) (exigent circumstances must exist to support officer’s warrantless entry into home to arrest for nonfelony offense). Compare United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38, 43, 96 S.Ct. 2406, 2410, 49 L.Ed.2d 300 (1976) (“[A] suspect may not defeat [a felony] arrest which has been set in motion in a public place ... by the expedient of escaping to a private place.”); Alto v. City of Chicago, 863 F.Supp. 658 (N.D.I11.1994) (applying Santana for a nonfelony warrant-less arrest of suspect escaping to his home). But see King v. City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, 590 F.Supp. 414 (N.D.Ind.1984) (police may not pursue suspect into home for nonfelony arrest under Santana, even though begun in a public place).
Some might even suggest other relevant considerations. For example, see Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980) (warrantless entry into home to effect routine felony arrest is presumptively unreasonable absent exigent circumstances); Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740, 750,104 S.Ct. 2091, 2098, 80 L.Ed.2d 732 (1984) (the nature of the offense is an important factor in determining whether exigent circumstances exist for warrantless entry into suspect’s home to arrest).