Utah AG Wins Case in Supreme Court
None by KCPW
High Court Overturns State Ruling on Brigham City Police Case
(KCPW News) The Utah Attorney General's office has won a big criminal case, arguing before the highest court in the nation for the first time in at least two decades. The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled 9-0 in favor of four Brigham City police officers who entered a home to break up a fight.For the Assistant Utah Attorney General who argued the case, it was a chance of a lifetime.
"It was a thrill. Most attorneys never get that opportunity," says Jeffrey Gray.
Gray argued that when officers responded to an early morning disturbance in Northern Utah in July of 2000 they were right to enter the home without knocking. The Utah Supreme Court ruled that the fight in the home was not serious enough to warrant entry without knocking.
In overturning the Utah Court, the U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts wrote that "an officer is not like a boxing referee, poised to stop a bout only if it becomes too one-sided . . . It would serve no purpose to require them to stand dumbly at the door awaiting their response while those within brawled on, oblivious to their presence."
Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW
1. Phoenix roberts said:
While I value my privacy as much as anyone else, I'm glad the High Court has ruled that law enforcement officers can (and by implication) must act immediately when they see a crime in progress, even if it is a very small crime.
2. David Larsen said:
Come on! At least quote the real essence of the decision:
Held: Police may enter a home without a warrant when they have an objectively reasonable basis for believing that an occupant is seri-ously injured or imminently threatened with such injury.