AK: Emergency exception applied to state trooper’s entry several hours after being called because of the remoteness of the location

This case was a domestic shooting in rural Alaska. Tribal officers were called, and they called for the State Troopers who were far better trained in crime scene preservation and homicide investigation. Their later entry was still under the emergency aid exception even though it was hours later. The state supreme court upheld such entries 8 hours later because of the long distances to travel. Modern technology doesn’t undermine those decisions, even though a fax or telephone warrant could have been procured. The court also rejects that the Mincey crime scene warrant requirement applied where the emergency aid exception still applied. George v. State, 2015 Alas. App. LEXIS 118 (July 29, 2015).

Defendant was an apparent witness to a homicide, and the officer was questioning him. He became aggressive, however, and he had blood on his shirt and abrasions on his knuckles. Handcuffing was thus with reasonable suspicion, but it was not really a detention; it was for protection of the officer. His statements were not custodial, and they were exculpatory. Maxwell v. State, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 11338 (Fla. 3d DCA July 29, 2015).*