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OR: Apparently pretextual community caretaking entry was unreasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Knock and talk about drug activity produced a babysitter who refused to consent, and the police implored her to consent, and she still refused. They decided to anyway under a community caretaking function claim because the house was dirty and in disarray. The court rejected a statutory argument posed by the state because the state's argument was clearly [to me, anyway] a pretext for a drug search. State v. Goodall, 2008 Ore. App. LEXIS 511 (April 16, 2008): Additionally, when applying the emergency aid doctrine, the court focuses on the officer's conduct at each step, viz., initial entry and then subsequent entry. See, e.g., State v. Weaver, 214 Ore. App. 633, 639-44, 168 P.3d 273, rev den, 343 Ore. 691, 174 P.3d 1017 (2007) (examining separately the officer's initial entry, whereby he put his foot in the door, and the subsequent entry to search after the defendant was handcuffed and in the police vehicle); Burdick, 209 Ore...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 20, 2008 (boomark / email).