Sims v. Stanton, No. 11-55401 (9th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed an action in district court under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that her Fourth Amendment rights had been violated by an officer's warrantless entry into her front yard and sought damages for her injuries. Plaintiff sustained serious injuries as a result of the officer's act of kicking down the front gate of her yard while in pursuit of a suspect who had committed at most a misdemeanor offense. The district court found that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity and granted his motion for summary judgment. The court held, however, that the law at the time of the incident would have placed a reasonable officer on notice that his warrantless entry into the curtilage of a home constituted an unconstitutional search, which could not be excused under the exigency or emergency exception to the warrant requirement. Therefore, the officer was not entitled to qualified immunity and the court reversed the judgment of the district court.
Court Description: Civil Rights. The panel reversed the district court’s summary judgment granting qualified immunity to a police officer and remanded in this action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff suffered serious injuries as a result of the officer’s act of kicking down the front gate of her yard. She alleged that the officer violated her Fourth Amendment rights by his warrantless entry into the curtilage of her house during his pursuit of a suspect, who had committed at most a misdemeanor offense. The panel first held that plaintiff’s yard was curtilage entitled to the same Fourth Amendment protections as her home. The panel held that the officer’s actions amounted to an unconstitutional search and that the law at the time of the incident would have placed a reasonable officer on notice that his warrantless entry into the curtilage of a home constituted an unconstitutional search, which could not be excused in this case under the exigency or emergency exception to the warrant requirement.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on January 16, 2013.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on January 9, 2014.
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