Sunday, November 3, 2013

Richards v. Wisconsin case brief

Richards v. Wisconsin case brief summary
520 U.S. 385 (1997)

CASE SYNOPSIS
Suppression hearing before Court on writ of certiorari from the Supreme Court of Wisconsin on question of whether police officers are required to knock-and-announce their presence when executing search warrants in felony drug investigations or whether there is a per se, blanket exception for this entire category of criminal activity.

CASE FACTS
Police executed a search warrant for petitioner's hotel room seeking evidence of the felonious crime of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance in violation of Wis. Stat. § 161.41(1m). They did not knock and announce prior to their entry and drugs were seized. At trial, petitioner sought to exclude evidence on the ground that the officers had failed to knock-and-announce. The lower court ruled against petitioner, concluding that police officers are never required to knock-and-announce their presence when executing a search warrant in felony drug investigations because they necessarily have reasonable cause to believe exigent circumstances exist. Petitioner sought review on writ of certiorari, which the court granted.

HOLDING
The court affirmed the judgment against petitioner because it found the officers' decision not to knock-and-announce was reasonable under the circumstances of this case, but found that the blanket exception to the knock-and-announce requirement for felony drug investigations was unconstitutional.

CONCLUSION

The court affirmed the judgment because the officers' decision not to knock-and-announce was reasonable under the circumstances of this case, but found unconstitutional court's blanket exception to the knock-and-announce requirement when executing a search warrant in felony drug investigations, upholding the knock-and-announce requirement, subject to the flexible requirement of reasonableness.

Recommended Supplements for Criminal Procedure Criminal Procedure: Examples & Explanations, Sixth Edition
Emanuel Law Outline: Criminal Procedure

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