Rubio

Defendant Adan Rubio appeals his conviction by plea to possession of a controlled substance with a firearm ( Health & Saf. Code, § 12305 ), a plea entered after the trial court denied his motion to suppress the evidence found in his apartment ( Pen. Code, § 1538.5 ). 1 Police had forcefully entered the apartment after responding to the scene where 11 gunshots had just been fired and officers were concerned that a shooting victim or suspect might be inside. We agree with the magistrate and the lower court that under the circumstances the warrantless entry was justified under the so-called community caretaking exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement, and that the suppression motion was properly denied. We shall therefore affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On October 19, 2016, at approximately 10:40 p.m., East Palo Alto Police Department Sergeant Clint Simmont received an alert on his "ShotSpotter" application that shots had been fired near 2400 Gonzaga Street. ShotSpotter triangulates the location of gunfire via microphones placed throughout the city. ShotSpotter notified Sergeant Simmont of two separate bursts of gunfire. First came five rounds from the edge…

If a man lives in a high crime neighborhood and somebody discharges a firearm outside his home, may the police break down his door and enter his apartment when he refuses to invite them in to investigate? The majority seems to think so, but the Fourth Amendment answers a resounding "no"-at least not without circumstances, not present here, that would cause a reasonable person to believe that someone in the apartment stood in need of aid, or that some other exception to the warrant requirement applied.

The Fourth Amendment draws a " 'firm line at the entrance of the house.' " ( People v. Bennett (1998) 17 Cal.4th 373 , 386, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 850 , 949 P.2d 947 , citing Payton v. New York (1980) 445 U.S. 573 , 590, 100 S.Ct. 1371 , 63 L.Ed.2d 639 .) At the amendment's "very core stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion." ( Silverman v. United States (1961) 365 U.S. 505 , 511, 81 S.Ct. 679 , 5 L.Ed.2d 734 .) Thus, "[w]ith few exceptions, the question whether a warrantless search of a home is reasonable and hence constitutional must be answered no." ( Kyllo v. United States (2001) 533 U.S. 27 , 31, 121 S.Ct. 2038 ,…