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Domestic Violence - Exigent Circumstances May Justify An Officer's Warrantless Entry Into Your Residence (Part 2)

By Walin & Klarich

In the context of an officer's warrantless entry into your residence, the most important issue is objective reasonableness. Whether, under the circumstances of your case, the officer's warrantless entry into your residence was objectively reasonable. If so, the "exigent circumstances" expection to the general warrant requirement may apply to justify the entry. A common issue in domestic violence cases is whether the officer responding to the scene should have secured a warrant before entering the residence. The police and prosecution will argue that any delay to obtain a warrant would have posed a safety risk to the alleged victim. On the other hand, defense counsel may have facts which go to show that abandoning the scene to obtain a warrant was unlikely to expose the alleged victim to further harm...continue to full post

Full post as published by Southern California Criminal Defense Blog on December 07, 2009 (boomark / email).