GA: Even arrest warrant for minor infraction justified entry to arrest

An arrest warrant for a minor infraction still justified an entry into the home to arrest. The search was limited to looking for a person. Evidence found on defendant’s person was legally seized. Jones v. State, 314 Ga. App. 247, 723 S.E.2d 697 (2012):

Here, the officers’ entry into the home was not warrantless. Instead, the officers entered Brown’s residence, reasonably believing she was present in the home at the time, to execute a valid arrest warrant. … Importantly, the police limited their search to those areas in which Brown might be located; there was no evidence that they attempted to search the house for narcotics or any other items. Under these circumstances, because the police had a valid arrest warrant for Brown (albeit for a minor infraction), and because the officers properly limited their search of her home to those areas where she might be located, the fact that they might have been motivated to enter the house to search for drugs was immaterial and does not render the entry and subsequent seizure of evidence from Jones illegal. …