NCJ Number
139916
Journal
Crime to Court: Police Officer's Handbook Dated: (November 1992) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1992
Length
35 pages
Annotation
This handbook examines the law with respect to warrantless police entry into multi-apartment buildings. The issues that arise involve common areas and curtilage.
Abstract
In the specific case being discussed, members of the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Philadelphia police arrested 63 persons on charges of drug trafficking. At one of the three possible addresses given for several of the suspects, the agents arrested three men and recovered weapons, cash, drugs, and drug paraphernalia inside an apartment and outside in the yard. After obtaining a warrant, the police conducted another search two days later and acquired additional evidence. The defendants were indicted for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and other related charges. Arguing that the officers' entry into the apartment hallway violated their rights to privacy and that the backyard was part of the curtilage of their apartment, the defendants moved to suppress the evidence obtained through the allegedly unlawful search and seizure. The court upheld that motion, concluding that the defendants' Fourth Amendment rights had been violated. 35 references