United States v. Jason K. Deemer

Jason K. Deemer appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained from the warrantless entry into his hotel room by Anchorage police officers. The district court denied Deemer’s motion because it found the police officers’ actions fell within the “emergency exception” to the Fourth Amendment’s restriction on searches or seizures without a warrant. We have jurisdiction to hear this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We now reverse.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

On March 4, 2002, the Anchorage Police Department received a 911 telephone call from an apparently intoxicated male who said “911” and then hung up. The Anchorage Police Department’s 911 system indicated that the call originated from room 105 of the Royal Suite Lodge. After an unsuccessful attempt to telephone back the unknown' caller, the dispatcher directed police officers Mark Rein and Mitchell Paige to the motel to investigate the call.

Anchorage police had been summoned to the Royal Suite Lodge on numerous occasions. From those prior calls, Officer Paige stated that he knew that many 911 calls from the Lodge are displayed on the police computer as originating from room 105 despite the…