Attorney General Austin Knudsen filed the opening brief in William Trevor Case v. State of Montana ahead of oral arguments at the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) scheduled for October 15. The Attorney General’s Office will defend a Montana Supreme Court ruling that law enforcement may enter a home without a search warrant if there is reason to believe a life-threatening emergency is occurring.
The case stems from a 2021 incident in Anaconda, when officers entered Case’s home after receiving credible information that he might attempt suicide. Inside, Case hid in a closet and, upon being discovered, pointed a gun at an officer. The officer shot and wounded Case, who was later convicted by a jury of assaulting a peace officer. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the verdict on appeal.
In his brief, Knudsen argues that the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures require only that searches be “reasonable”, not that they always have warrants or probable cause. “The officers corroborated the emergency report with on-the-ground observations and acted based on a reasonable belief that Case needed urgent aid,” Knudsen wrote. He also contends that probable cause applies to criminal investigations, not emergency-aid situations.
Attorney General Knudsen and Solicitor General Christian Corrigan will present the state’s case during the SCOTUS hearing.