WY: 911 hang-up call from def’s girlfriend and def answered call back volunteering he’d never hit her, with other information, justified warrantless entry

Defendant’s girlfriend made a 911 hang-up call. When 911 called back, defendant answered the phone and volunteered he’d never hit her when she didn’t speak on the first call. Defendant was known to the police to have firearms and possible mental health issues. This just barely was justification for an emergency entry. Ferch v. State, 2020 WY 37, 2020 Wyo. LEXIS 38 (Mar. 12, 2020).

“Sergeant Mehlhoff’s testimony was honest, straight-forward, and credible. The Court has no reason to believe his testimony regarding the traffic violations was anything less than truthful, and the testimony was unrefuted. Because either of these traffic violations serve as an independent basis to stop a vehicle, the Court need not determine whether the officers had reasonable suspicion of drug trafficking. Accordingly, the Court finds the stop of the vehicle was lawful.” The stop was not unreasonably long. The officer smelled marijuana as he walked up to the vehicle. United States v. Jones, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42717 (D.N.D. Mar. 12, 2020).*

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