CA4: Exigencies supported a warrantless entry for drugs and guns
FourthAmendment.com:
The exigencies of the situation justified a warrantless entry to search for a gun and drugs. Included in the exigencies is the seriousness of the crime under investigation. The standard of exigencies for arrest should apply to entries to search, too. United States v. Schaffer, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 14063 (4th Cir. July 3, 2008) (unpublished):
This Court has set forth five factors that district courts are to consider when deciding whether an exigency existed at the time a search commenced:
(1) the degree of urgency involved and the amount of time necessary to obtain a warrant; (2) the officers’ reasonable belief that the contraband is about to be removed or destroyed; (3) the possibility of danger to police guarding the site; (4) information indicating the possessors of the contraband are aware that police are on their trail; and (5) the ready destructibility of the contraband.
United States v. Mowatt, 513 F.3d 395, 399 (2008) (citation omitted). We have previously held that “arguably, these factors must be supplemented by the gravity of the underlying offense, a factor employed by the Supreme Court in the context of a warrantless arrest.” United States v. Owens, 848 F.2d 462, 470 n.4 (4th Cir. 1988).
It bears noting here that this list is inexhaustive and no single factor is controlling. See United States v. Reed, 935 F.2d 641, 642 (4th Cir. 1991) (”[T]here is no precise formula since emergency circumstances will vary from case to case and the inherent necessities of each situation must be scrutinized.”) Instead, exigencies must be judged in light of all of the relevant actors and from the totality of the circumstances known to the officer at the time of the warrantless intrusion.
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Turning to the factors enumerated in Mowatt, inasmuch as it was reasonable for the officers to believe…