King v. Commonwealth
Annotate this CasePolice made a warrantless entry into an apartment occupied by Appellant Hollis King and discovered drugs and drug paraphernalia. The circuit court denied King's motion to suppress. King entered a conditional guilty plea to several drug-related offenses. On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the denial of King's motion to suppress, holding that if exigent circumstances existed when police heard sounds of movement after they knocked on the door of the apartment occupied by King, any exigency that did arise when police announced their presence was police-created and could not be relied upon as a justification for a warrantless entry. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) police may rely on exigent circumstances so long as the police do not create the exigency by engaging or threatening to engage in conduct that violates the Fourth Amendment, and (2) police in this case did not engage in any such conduct. The U.S. Supreme Court then remanded to determine whether exigent circumstances existed. The Supreme Court reversed the denial of King's motion to suppress and vacated King's conviction, holding that exigent circumstances did not exist when police made the warrantless entry. Remanded.
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