United States Ninth Circuit

In plaintiff's civil rights suit against a police officer for sustaining serious injuries as a result of the officer's act of kicking down the front gate of her yard during a pursuit of a suspect, as she was standing directly behind the gate when it swung open, district court's summary judgment granting qualified immunity to the officer is reversed and remanded where: 1) plaintiff's yard was curtilage entitled to the same Fourth Amendment protections as her home; and 2) the officer's actions amounted to an unconstitutional search and 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.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/03/2012
• Published 12/03/2012

Judges

• Reinhardt

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel