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PA: Search of unconscious shooting victim's clothing in hospital to ID him was reasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant was a shooting victim who had not been identified, and a search of his clothing at the hospital to try to identify him was reasonable. Drugs were found in his pocket. Defendant was a suspect in no crime when this happened. A need existed to see if defendant carried some indication of a medical history and to identify him in order to notify relatives or friends. Commonwealth v. Johnson, 2009 PA Super 41, 2009 Pa. Super. LEXIS 50 (March 11, 2009),* Police were justified in entering defendant's curtilage under exigent circumstances that he would leave the premises with drugs. United States v. Torres, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 4903 (9th Cir. March 10, 2009) (unpublished): We also find that exigent circumstances were present to justify the warrantless presence of officers inside the curtilage of Appellant's home...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 13, 2009 (boomark / email).