CA9: Hearing apparent domestic abuse inside from choking and threatening to use a gun justified police entry

“The district court properly concluded that probable cause and exigent circumstances justified the police officers’ warrantless entry into the apartment. The officers heard Harris and Leanna Devad fighting; witnesses reported hearing choking sounds and hearing Devad say that Harris had a firearm in the apartment. Under these circumstances, (1) there was ‘a fair probability or substantial chance’ that a domestic violence incident had occurred, and (2) a reasonable person would have believed that entry was necessary to prevent physical harm to Devad.” Both parties consented to a further search of the premises. United States v. Harris, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 4103 (9th Cir. March 8, 2017).