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TX: Facts supported warrantless entry for missing woman

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officers objectively had reason to believe that a missing woman might be in appellant's apartment, and that was an exigency for an entry. One officer's subjective belief they did not have enough was irrelevant. Pitonyak v. State, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 2244 (Tex. App.-–Austin March 27, 2008): Considered together, these facts strongly suggested that Jennifer's disappearance was the result of foul play and pointed to appellant's apartment as the most obvious place to look for her. Granted, there were no signs of foul play at the apartment. There had been no reports of shouts or gunshots coming from the apartment. No foul odor had been detected. But Jennifer had been missing without explanation for almost two days, appellant was her last known companion, her car was parked outside appellant's apartment (as was appellant's), and appellant had lied about having been with Jennifer on Tuesday night...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 01, 2008 (boomark / email).