State v. McCullough

The emergency aid exception requires an officer to believe entry is immediately necessary to aid someone who is suffering, or someone who is being imminently threatened with suffering.

Defendant was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) after an officer entered his trailer without a warrant. Defendant moved to suppress evidence obtained from this search, arguing it was not a constitutionally permissible instance of a “true emergency.” The trial court agreed and granted Defendant’s motion to suppress. The state appealed, arguing the officer was justified in entering the trailer because he had a reasonable belief that Defendant had been in a serious crash and had sustained serious injury. The Court held that the emergency aid exception requires an officer to believe entry is immediately necessary to aid someone who is suffering, or someone who is being threatened with suffering. In this case, evidence did not support that the officer had such a subjective belief, as he was only entering to “make sure that defendant was okay and to check on his well-being.” Consequently, there was no true emergency. Affirmed.