US Supreme Court to rule on searches
The US Supreme Court is to reconsider an earlier ruling by an appeals court that police acted unreasonably by not waiting for the owner of a home to answer the door before breaking it down to execute a search warrant.
An appeals court ruled that authorities acted unreasonably by using a battering ram to knock down Lashawn Lowell Banks' door just 15 to 20 seconds after demanding entrance. The masked officers found Banks naked and soapy, emerging from the bathroom. They also found crack cocaine, but the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the evidence could not be used because the officers violated the constitutional ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. [...] Officers knocked down the door after knocking and announcing that they had a search warrant. They forced Banks to the floor and handcuffed him, then moved him to a kitchen chair for questioning. Officers gave him some underwear, court records show. - AP, High Court to Review Limits on Searches .