Search and Seizure — exigent circumstances

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Criminal

Search and Seizure — exigent circumstances

Exigent circumstances did not justify a warrantless search of a shooting victim’s home.

“Delgado now appeals the denial of his suppression motion. The government concedes that the warrantless search was not a valid protective sweep, but argues that exigent circumstances existed because a reasonable officer could have believed that the unaccounted-for shooter was still hiding in the same apartment from which the shooting victim and Delgado had emerged. However, we agree with the magistrate judge and the district court and reject that argument. Absent any verbal or non-verbal indication from the victim, the witness, or Delgado that anyone else was in the apartment or that the victim or Delgado had been subjected to violence inside the apartment, the mere fact that the shooter was generally at large was not enough for a reasonable officer to believe that the shooter was specifically in the apartment. Therefore, we reverse the denial of Delgado’s suppression motion, vacate the judgment of conviction, and remand with instructions to grant Delgado’s suppression motion and for additional proceedings consistent with this decision.”

Reversed and Remanded.

12-2478 U.S. v. Delgado

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Stadtmueller, J., Williams, J.