Chemical smell alone not exigent circumstances

Chemical smell alone was not sufficient for exigent circumstances for a warrantless entry. The officers have to fear an explosion that will harm people. State v. Leffler, 140 Wn. App. 223, 165 P.3d 386 (2007):

¶20 In sum, the emergency exception only applies where there is an imminent threat of substantial injury to persons or property. The evidence demonstrates no such threat here. The initial response team was clearly concerned for their own safety, but that is insufficient to justify a warrantless search under the emergency exception.

Defendant was clearly told he was free to leave when he gave a statement implicating himself in a murder, so his rights were not violated. State v. Britton, 283 Conn. 598, 929 A.2d 312 (2007).*

Officer had reasonable suspicion for a patdown of the defendant after a traffic stop because he had seen the defendant at the scene of a couple of search warrant executions. State v. Bones, 230 S.W.3d 364 (Mo. App. 2007):

Officer Walthall testified that when he pulled Defendant over he recognized him as an individual that had been present at some residences where he, as a member of the special response team, had served search warrants. These search warrants were considered high risk because of the possibility of the presence of weapons and other dangerous factors at the locations to be searched. Officer Walthall testified that Defendant was present at these high risk locations “two or three times” and weapons were located during these searches. Officer Walthall said that due to his familiarity with Defendant, especially knowing that Defendant had been present where weapons were found, he feared for his own safety. It was his fear, based upon his familiarity with Defendant, which caused Officer Walthall to call for backup.