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911 handup call justifies entry onto the curtilage

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

911 call is quintessentially an emergency that has to at least be checked out, and it justifies an entry onto the curtilage to go to the door. Nail v. Gutierrez, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80691 (N.D. Ind. October 10, 2008): Dialing 911 is a common way to convey to the police that there is an emergency at hand. As the Seventh Circuit has noted: A 911 call is one of the most common--and universally recognized--means through which police and other emergency personnel learn that there is someone in a dangerous situation who urgently needs help. This fits neatly with a central purpose of the exigent circumstances (or emergency) exception to the warrant requirement, namely, to ensure that the police or other government agents are able to assist persons in danger or otherwise in need of assistance...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 15, 2008 (boomark / email).