State v. Lorenzo

Consent to search without a warrant is invalid if it is the result of previous unlawful police conduct.

Defendant appealed a conviction for unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance, delivery of a controlled substance and felon in possession of a firearm. A police officer entered the Defendant’s apartment fearing the Defendant may have been injured, in relation to a suicide attempt that had taken place elsewhere in the Defendant’s apartment complex, and found marijuana, drug records, a scale, and a gun. Defendant argued the Officer’s warrantless search was a violation of his state and federal constitutional rights. The State argued the Officer’s search was justified by the emergency aid exception to the warrant requirement. The Court of Appeals ruled there was no "objectively reasonable" basis for rendering aid to justify the officers' warrantless search. Therefore, the emergency aid exception did not apply. Secondly, the Court of Appeals ruled Defendant's consent did not make the warrantless search legal because it was the result of previous unlawful police conduct. Reversed and remanded.