OR: 3 am look at def’s car in driveway was unreasonable under state constitution

Officers approached defendant’s house by the driveway and came to the “back door” which was also a way into the house for ordinary visitors. The look at his car at 3 am exceeded implied consent to enter. “[A]t three o’clock in the morning, two officers walked onto defendant’s driveway, and circled his vehicle inspecting it for damage related to a hit-and-run. The implied consent exception cannot stretch that far, even accounting for a society in which certain types of unexpected contact are bound to occur. … More to the point, we can think of no purpose for the officers’ behavior in circling the vehicle other than a warrantless search. From the perspective of the homeowner, the officers’ behavior was unreasonable and alarming—a contact to which he did not consent.” State v. Leos-Garcia, 337 Or. App. 47 (Dec. 26, 2024) (decided under state constitution).

“The key to exigent circumstances is what officers reasonably believe. Quarterman, 877 F.3d at 798-99. Faced with the facts here, not every reasonable officer would know that it was unreasonable to believe that some immediate act was necessary to protect the safety of Kobe’s grandmother or themselves. Not every reasonable officer would know, in the particular circumstances of this case, that entering the house violated the Fourth Amendment. The right was not ‘clearly established.’ Rivas-Villegas, 595 U.S. at 5. The district court correctly granted qualified immunity on the officers’ warrantless entry.” Dimock v. City of Brooklyn Ctr., 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 32676 (8th Cir. Dec. 26, 2024).*