Legal Lesson of the Month: Can You Enter the House?

EMS can be full of interesting and tricky legal scenarios. While you can’t have an attorney ride with you, it behooves providers to have at least some familiarity with the principles, precedents, and major issues of EMS law. To that end EMS World is pleased to offer the EMS Legal Lesson of the Month.

These cases are presented by prominent attorneys in the EMS field. This month’s comes from Larry Bennett, program chair for fire science and emergency management at the University of Cincinnati. Bennett’s department publishes a monthly Fire & EMS and Safety Law newsletter; subscribe to that by e-mailing Lawrence.bennett@uc.edu or read the latest edition here. Find this case and more in his newsletter archive. 

Case: Arthur Gregory Lange v. California

Decided: June 2021

Verdict: The U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously that while police may need warrants to pursue misdemeanor suspects into private homes, “exigent circumstances” still allow emergency responders to enter them without.

Facts: When the state police tried to pull Lange over due to noise violations, he drove home and into his garage, where he was arrested for driving under the influence and failure to stop. He moved to suppress the DUI evidence but was denied. His appeal eventually reached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court rejected the state’s argument that the pursuit of a suspected misdemeanant always qualifies as an exigent circumstance that authorizes a warrantless home entry, and the case will now be sent back to California, where the prosecutor will likely dismiss all charges.

However, the decision contains an exception for exigent circumstances. It applies when “the exigencies of the situation make the needs of law enforcement so compelling that [a] warrantless search is objectively reasonable.” This exception enables law enforcement officers to handle emergency situations that present a “compelling need for official action and no time to secure a warrant.” Such emergencies can include entering a home to provide emergency assistance to an injured occupant or to protect an occupant from imminent injury.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted in a concurring opinion that “The Court’s opinion does not disturb the long-settled rule that pursuit of a fleeing felon is itself an exigent circumstance justifying warrantless entry.”

Key quote: “The flight of a suspected misdemeanant does not always justify a warrantless entry into a home. An officer must consider all the circumstances in a pursuit case to determine whether there is a law enforcement emergency. On many occasions, the officer will have good reason to enter—to prevent imminent harms of violence, destruction of evidence, or escape from the home. But when the officer has time to get a warrant, he must do so—even though the misdemeanant fled.”

Legal lesson: EMS and fire responders may continue to request police assistance to make warrantless entries where there are medical emergencies.