Brigham City v. Stuart
Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398 (2006), is a United States Supreme Court case involving the exigent circumstances exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement. The Court ruled that police may enter a home without a warrant if they have an objectively reasonable basis for believing that an occupant is or is about to be seriously injured.
| Brigham City v. Stuart | |
|---|---|
Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Argued April 24, 2006 Decided May 22, 2006 | |
| Full case name | Brigham City, Utah v. Charles W. Stuart, Shayne R. Taylor and Sandra A. Taylor |
| Docket no. | 05-502 |
| Citations | 547 U.S. 398 (more) 126 S. Ct. 1943; 164 L. Ed. 2d 650; 2006 U.S. LEXIS 4155 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Motion to suppress granted, Brigham City District Court; affirmed, 57 P.3d 1111 (Utah Ct. App. 2002); affirmed, 122 P.3d 506 (Utah 2004) |
| Holding | |
| Police may enter a home without a warrant when they have an objectively reasonable basis for believing that an occupant is seriously injured or imminently threatened with such injury. Utah Supreme Court reversed and remanded. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Roberts, joined by unanimous |
| Concurrence | Stevens |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. IV | |
The case involved the arrest of four adults seen restraining a juvenile, who punched one of the adults who was restraining him. The trial court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss, arguing that the warrantless entry was not supported by exigent circumstances; the Utah Court of Appeals and Utah Supreme Court both affirmed the trial court's ruling. However, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case on May 22, 2006.