The U.S. Marshals had an arrest warrant for Nolan, and they put out word on the street. A CI reported that Nolan was at defendant\u2019s house playing video games, so they went there and entered to arrest him. The entry into the defendant\u2019s home was without a search warrant and clearly illegal under Steagald (1981), and drugs found there were suppressed. Benson v. State, 2014 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 40 (June 13, 2014):<\/p>\n
Here, the State failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that the entry into Benson’s house in order to effectuate the lawful arrest of Nolan was justified by exigent circumstances. At the suppression hearing, the evidence indicated that the sole basis for entering Benson’s house was the confidential tip that a suspected felon was inside the house at the time. The State presented no evidence indicating that Nolan was aware that police were on his trail. There was no evidence showing that Nolan was about to leave Benson’s house. The State also failed to demonstrate that the officers had insufficient time to get a warrant under the circumstances. Although Nolan had an arrest warrant against him for attempted murder, the State did not present any evidence that indicated danger to officers or the public. Although there might have been enough evidence to give officers probable cause for a search warrant, there was not sufficient evidence of exigent circumstances to justify a warrantless entry and search of the house. Accordingly, the evidence seized from the illegal search of Benson’s house must be suppressed. Because Benson’s statement was made as a result of the illegal search it too must be suppressed. See Foldi v. State, 861 So. 2d 414, 419 (Ala. Crim. App. 2002) (“[T]he use of derivative evidence can be barred if the evidence is discovered by the exploitation of a prior police illegality, if the primary taint has not been purged by some intervening act or event.”).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The U.S. Marshals had an arrest warrant for Nolan, and they put out word on the street. A CI reported that Nolan was at defendant\u2019s house playing video games, so they went there and entered to arrest him. The entry … Continue reading