Police Helicopter Lit Up the Suspect’s House Like a Christmas Tree. Forcing to exit = illegal arrest

Nora next contends that, even if the officers had probable cause to arrest him, they arrested him in violation of Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). The Court held in Payton that the Fourth Amendment forbids arresting a suspect inside his home unless the police first obtain an arrest warrant or an exception to the warrant requirement applies. Id. at 590, 100 S.Ct. 1371. That rule is designed to protect “the privacy and the sanctity of the home,” id. at 588, 100 S.Ct. 1371, and stems from “the overriding respect for the sanctity of the home that has been embedded in our traditions since the origins of the Republic.” Id. at 601, 100 S.Ct. 1371.

The government properly concedes that the police arrested Nora “inside” his home for purposes of the Payton rule. Although officers physically took Nora into custody outside his home in the front yard, they accomplished that feat only by surrounding his house and ordering him to come out at gunpoint. We’ve held that forcing a suspect to exit his home in those circumstances constitutes an in-home arrest under Payton. See, e.g., Fisher v. City of San Jose, 558 F.3d 1069, 1074–75 (9th Cir.2009) (en banc); United States v. Al–Azzawy, 784 F.2d 890, 893 (9th Cir.1985). Since the officers didn’t obtain an arrest warrant, Nora’s arrest violated the Fourth Amendment unless an exception to the warrant requirement applies.

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Although Nora’s arrest was supported by probable cause, the manner in which officers made the arrest violated Payton. Evidence obtained as a result of Nora’s unlawful arrest must be suppressed, which renders the portions of the warrant authorizing a search for narcotics-related evidence and evidence of gang membership invalid. The remaining untainted evidence did not establish probable cause to search Nora’s home for the broad range of firearms described in the warrant. As a consequence, the entire warrant was invalid and all evidence seized pursuant to it must be suppressed. We reverse the district court’s order denying Nora’s suppression motion and remand for further proceedings.

Read the full case here: United States v. Nora, 765 F.3d 1049 (9th Cir. 2014), https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-nora