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D.N.M.: Open line 911 call was not per se exigency; there are innocent explanations

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

An open line 911 call with static on the line is not per se an exigent circumstance. More is required than a 911 call. United States v. Martinez, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114194 (D. N.M. November 16, 2009): The range of 911 calls lie on a spectrum. At one end of the spectrum are those frantic calls from a person inside a home who is able to say someone is attacking him or her, or a member of the family. Such a call alone might be enough to provide a basis for the exigent-circumstances exception. See West v. Keef, 479 F.3d at 759 ("The 911 call from Plaintiffs twelve-year-old son, which included his belief that his mother was 'going crazy,' that she was c[t]rying to kill herself,' that she was 'trying to cut her[self] with a knife' and other statements to the same effect, are, standing alone and in context, sufficient to justify the warrantless entry...continue to full post

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