Exigent circumstance for meth lab entry must be more than safety concerns for officers

True exigency for a meth lab search without a warrant must be more than just concern for the officer’s safety, which is all they showed here. State v. Leffler, 142 Wn. App. 175, 173 P.3d 293 (2007):

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.

Deputy Greger testified that none of the officers entered any of the buildings on the premises before the Team wearing protective gear. Additionally, Deputy Clark testified that had there been an ongoing chemical reaction, he believed that the resulting fumes would have been a danger to the surrounding area. He also pointed out that he had seen such reactions explode, but he did not testify as to the imminence of this danger.

Indiana officers had reasonable suspicion of drug trafficking for trash pulls occurring before Litchfield‘s new trash pull standard was decided, and they were not required to exhaust innocent explanations as a part of reasonable suspicion. Turner v. State, 878 N.E.2d 286 (Ind. App. 2007).*

Defendant’s traffic stop was valid and the lack of driver’s license and other factors indicated reasonable suspicion. State v. Ramsey, 2007 Ohio 6687, 2007 Ohio App. LEXIS 5863 (9th Dist. December 17, 2007).*

Glove compartment was validly searched under search incident. (Defendant also did not provide a transcript of the suppression hearing for appeal, so this was based on the trial record.) State v. Pirpich, 2007 Ohio 6745, 2007 Ohio App. LEXIS 5907 (12th Dist. December 17, 2007).*

Plain feel told officer that a baggie of crack was in defendant’s pocket, and that justified a seizure. State v. Dunson, 2007 Ohio 6681, 2007 Ohio App. LEXIS 5851 (2d Dist. December 14, 2007).*

The question is close, but the court finds that the officer did not unduly extend the stop. This led to a warning from the appellate court. State v. Henry, 2007 Ohio 6732, 2007 Ohio App. LEXIS 5904 (11th Dist. December 14, 2007):

[*P44] Nevertheless, we would be remiss if we did not take this opportunity to remind law enforcement officers of the dangers of engaging in a pretextual stop in which a traffic citation is issued in a dilatory manner. The circumstances of this case present a perilously close set of facts, and we must always be mindful that “[t]he liberties of the American citizen depend upon the existence of established and known rules of law limiting the authority and discretion of men wielding the power of government.” Perry & Cooper, Sources of Our Liberties, (Chicago: American Bar Association, 1959), at 1.