Supreme Court of Connecticut
State of Connecticut v. Gary Ryder
August 9, 2011301 Conn. 810
Summary
The court held that police began a warrantless search when an officer crossed the gate onto the defendant’s protected curtilage, not only when officers entered the house. The emergency exception did not justify that intrusion because the known facts did not give a reasonable officer sufficient grounds to believe that the teenager faced immediate danger. The judgment was reversed with directions to suppress the evidence and dismiss the charges. Justice Eveleigh, joined by Chief Justice Rogers, and Chief Justice Rogers separately, dissented on the view that the circumstances objectively supported an emergency entry.