United States v. David L. Harper, United States of America v. Adrian A. Harper

There’s a simple way for the police to avoid many complex search and seizure problems: Get a search warrant. Had they obtained a search warrant in this case — as they could well have — there would have been no motion to suppress, no hearing, no objection at trial and no thorny issues for us to resolve on appeal. But they didn’t. So once again we consume a few pages of the Federal Reporter analyzing the circumstances under which the police may enter a home without a search warrant.

Facts

The police thought David Harper was up to no good; they suspected he was manufacturing and distributing drugs. Nor was David’s parole officer too happy with him; David had violated the conditions of his parole and the parole board had issued a warrant for his arrest. But David’s parole officer didn’t have a current address for him and couldn’t locate him, so David remained at large.

Acting on a tip, the police began surveillance of a house at 10 Manzanita Street, Daly City, California. David was seen entering the house with his own key once or twice. The police also learned that two of David’s brothers resided there, and that the house was rented by the Harper family. They informed David’s…