CA11: Domestic disturbance call with a report of shots fired permitted a warrantless entry and then a protective sweep for victims

A domestic disturbance call with a report of shots fired permitted a warrantless entry and then a protective sweep for victims: “Based on the 911 call reporting gunshots and a domestic disturbance, combined with Peacock’s initial observations upon arriving at the scene, the officers were, as in Holloway, permitted to conduct a limited search of the home for victims of gunfire.” United States v. Jones, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 152 (11th Cir. Jan. 6, 2020).

Defense counsel was not ineffective for not filing a motion to suppress challenging police entry onto defendant’s curtilage with probable cause despite defendant having a fence, gate, barbed wire, and a “no trespassing” sign. Defendant’s version would have hamstrung the trial, if there was one, and counsel had a valid strategic reason not to go there. Moreover, the recording of the walk through of his house belied any claim there was police coercion for him to talk. Treffinger v. United States, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 170 (11th Cir. Jan. 6, 2020).

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