State v. Carter

Summary

The Supreme Court of Louisiana held that the state failed to justify the warrantless entry and search of a residence where the defendant established that he owned and lived in the property. The court reversed the denial of the motion to suppress, granted the motion, and remanded because the evidence was tainted by the illegal entry.

Holdings

1. Because Carter established that he owned and lived in the residence, he possessed a reasonable expectation of privacy in the premises protected by the Fourth Amendment.
2. The State failed to carry its burden of demonstrating that the officers reasonably believed the residence was abandoned or that another exception to the warrant requirement authorized the warrantless entry and search.
3. The evidence seized from the residence was derivatively tainted by the prior illegal entry and had to be suppressed.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Carter had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the residence where he testified, without contradiction, that he owned and lived there.
2. Whether the State proved that the warrantless entry and search were reasonable under the abandoned-premises exception or another recognized exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement.
3. Whether the evidence seized from the residence was subject to suppression as fruit of the unlawful entry.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded