Thompson

This is a qualified immunity case arising out of an early morning execution of a search warrant. Two issues arise, the procedure to be followed, and the exigency exception to the knock and announce requirement.

A. Facts.

Joseph Deshetres, whose house was the object of the search, was a member of a motorcycle gang thought by the police to be violent, and he had a substantial criminal record. The police had probable cause to believe that Deshetres had sold methamphetamine, and would have evidence of his methamphetamine dealing at his house. The search warrant affidavit says that Deshetres had a record of numerous arrests, for narcotics, illegal possession of guns, assault, robbery, and interference with a police officer. The year before the raid on his house, De-shetres was arrested as he robbed a drug dealer with a gun and tried to escape with a hostage.

In the raid that led to the instant case, a large number of police surrounded Deshe-tres’s house at six in the morning. They correctly anticipated that Deshetres and anyone else in the house would be asleep. At the door, an officer hollered that they were police. At the direction of Sergeant Steen, the officer in charge that…