I'm clearly the outlier here, since this opinion is written by Judge Graber and is unanimous. But really?
The police in San Bernardino try to pull over a Chevy Tahoe for the very, very serious offense of "expired registration and an unilluminated license plate." The driver doesn't stop, and when the officer gives chase, eventually runs on foot into a dead end street, at which point the officer (who's stopped to first "clear" the Tahoe) loses track of him. But the last time the officer saw the guy, the suspect was heading towards one of the houses in the neighborhood, so the officer goes into the back yard of that house in search of the guy. No dice. But maybe, just maybe, the suspect went in the house; apparently, the back door of that house is unlocked.
Other officers arrive, a police helicopter comes, they search all around the area for heat signatures or the suspect but can't find any, so they surround the house and tell the occupants to come out. No dice there either. It sounds like there might indeed be someone in the house -- there are noises there -- but there's no response, and no one's coming out.
To reiterate: They're confident the suspect isn't anywhere near. The police have surrounded the house. It has been around ten minutes since the officers have last seen the guy. Maybe he's in the house (or maybe someone else is), but the officers have been screaming for a couple of minutes, and there's no response.
(As it will turn out, the owner of the house is "a quadriplegic in a wheelchair," and he's indeed inside.)
Here's my take:
It's someone's home. Their castle. The place is surrounded. No one's getting out, or away. And the guy you're chasing is merely wanted for evading the police and expired tags.
You can't just call in for a warrant?
Apparently not.
After waiting 10 minutes, the police barge in the back door, find the owner sitting in his bedroom, search the place with his consent, and find the suspect. The owner then sues, claiming they needed a warrant.
The Ninth Circuit says: Nope. Hot pursuit. No need for a warrant.
I just can't get around the fact that there's utterly no reason to get (or require) a warrant here. Zero. It's someone's home. There are no exigent circumstances.
Get a warrant.
