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W.D.Tex.: Officers violated curtilage without PC or exigent circumstances

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The motion to suppress is granted without a hearing because the parties’ submissions show no material differences of fact. Given the undisputed facts, the entry into defendant’s back yard was without probable cause or exigence circumstances, and they violated the curtilage. All the government showed was that the defendant did not want to talk to the police. United States v. Puerta-Cazares, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37613 (W.D. Tex. February 5, 2010)*: Indeed, the Government argues that the officers entered the yard "out of concern for their own safety and the safety of the community." Gov't's Supp. Resp. 2. "In evaluating exigency, we 'consider the appearance of the scene of the search in the circumstances presented as it would appear to reasonable and prudent men standing in the shoes of the officers...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 22, 2010 (boomark / email).