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State v. Hess5/5/2004
Considered on Briefs on August 25, 2003
. In this case, we must decide whether a warrantless police entry and search of a home, mistakenly thought to be the home of an arrestee for whom the officers had a warrant, constituted a Fourth Amendment violation. After looking in the window of a home where the police were to arrest a person on a felony warrant, which was actually the home next door, the officers observed the defendant and another man using a controlled substance. Believing that exigent circumstances existed and that this was the home of the person they were to arrest, the officers entered, arrested the men, and searched the premises. The defendant was the boyfriend of one of the women living at this residence. He was not planning on staying overnight on that evening, but he had been an overnight guest on previous occasions. In denying his motion to suppress, the circuit court ruled that the defendant had no standing to contest the search and seizure. The defendant was convicted of possession of a controlled substance. On appeal, we conclude that the defendant had standing to raise a constitutional challenge to the search. However, because the officers acted under the good faith but mistaken belief that they were executing an arrest warrant at the right premises, and because their observations through the window disclosed exigent circumstances allowing an immediate warrantless entry into the home, the Fourth Amendment was not violated by the search and arrest.
Background
. On March 6, 2002, at 10:50 p.m., deputies from the Pennington County Sheriff's Office sought to serve an arrest warrant for Thomas Corey. The warrant was for the crime of second degree manslaughter, in that Thomas Corey was charged with recklessly causing the death of a person in a motor vehicle crash on February 10, 2002. The warrant specifically listed Corey's address as "3936 Canyon Lake Dr." Deputy Moore testified that they located Corey's residence by driving along Canyon Lake Drive until they found a mailbox by the road indicating the address of 3936 Canyon Lake Drive. The deputies parked their car on the opposite side of the street behind a wall and proceeded across the four lanes of Canyon Lake Drive. After they passed the mailbox and crossed the lawn, they saw a two-stall carport that adjoined two homes. There were no lights on in the first residence. In the front of the second residence, the officers noticed a vehicle running with its lights on. Deputy Moore shined his flashlight on 39361/2, but only saw the number 3936. He testified that later examination revealed that the numbers 3, 9, 3, and 6 were approximately two inches by one inch and the 1/2 was about a quarter of the size of the other numbers.
. The deputies also noticed that there were lights on in the second residence. They went to the south side of 39361/2 and looked through the window. Deputy Moore knew he was on private property at this point. Although the blinds were pulled, Deputy Moore, by putting his face close to the window, was able to see two males sitting on a bed. To get a better view, he went to a window on the west side of the house located in the carport. Again the blinds were pulled on this window; however, Deputy Moore was able to see that the two males sitting on the bed were loading and smoking a pipe with a white substance taken from a metal container. Believing that he was witnessing the illegal use of a controlled substance, specifically methamphetamine, Deputy Moore conferred with Deputy Osborne and they decided that there were exigent circumstances because they did not know how much evidence was there. While Deputy Osborne remained at the window to watch the two men, Deputy Moore went to the fr
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