Michael Scott Hanuman v. United States
FourthAmendment CriminalProcedure
Does the Fourth Amendment permit law enforcement officers to conduct a protective sweep search of a private home under the Buie 'reasonable suspicion' standard, when the officers are lawfully present within the home under authority of the emergency aid doctrine rather than to effect an arrest?
QUESTION PRESENTED This Court has held that when law enforcement officers are lawfully present within a private home to make an arrest, the Fourth Amendment permits a protective sweep search of the home when there exists “reasonable suspicion” that “the area swept harbors an individual posing a danger to those on the arrest scene.” Maryland v. Buie, 494 U.S. 325, 334 (1990). Separately, this Court has held the Fourth Amendment permits law enforcement officers to make warrantless entry into a private home to render emergency aid, so long as there exists “an objectively reasonable basis for believing that medical assistance was needed, or persons were in danger.” Michigan v. Fisher, 558 U.S. 45, 48 (2009). The question presented by the petition is: Does the Fourth Amendment permit law enforcement officers to conduct a protective sweep search of a private home under the Buie “reasonable suspicion” standard, when the officers are lawfully present within the home under authority of the emergency aid doctrine rather than to effect an arrest? i