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Police Officers Claimed: "We Just Wanted to Help"

Taken from Hopkins v. Bonvicino:On August 22, 2003, two San Carlos Police Officers broke into Bruce Hopkins? home. They did not have a warrant, nor did they have probable cause. All that they had was a statement from a third-party that Hopkins had been involved in an extremely minor traffic incident, an incident so minor that it did not cause as much as a scratch on either of the vehicles involved, and that he appeared to have been drinking. Based on this information, the officers broke into Hopkins? home with their flashlights shining and their guns drawn. When they found Hopkins, they handcuffed him, removed him from his house, and placed him under arrest.The officers? explanation for their warrantless entry is both simple and audacious: They claim that, after hearing that Hopkins had the smell of alcohol on his breath, they feared he was on the brink of a diabetic coma and broke into his house in order to offer medical assistance...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on July 17, 2009 (boomark / email).