Here's a case in NH...
Judge calls at home of suspect
By Elizabeth Kenny
SeacoastOnline.com
Updated: 12:50 p.m. ET May 11, 200405/11/2004 - PORTSMOUTH - District Court Judge Sharon DeVries visited 90 Wibird St. Monday to try to answer a critical question in the drunk-driving case against John Harrington: Did police violate Harringtons constitutional rights in arresting him?
DeVries visited the former home of Harrington, the Portsmouth resident arrested for driving while intoxicated and careening into a gas pump in Kittery, Maine, on March 28. She was there in an effort to decide if Harrington had been illegally pulled from his home by the police officers who arrested him.
DeVries did not talk to reporters Monday, but is expected to make a final decision later this week.
While at 90 Wibird St., the judge measured the height of the doorstep and asked questions of both Harringtons attorney and prosecutors before partly re-enacting the scene that took place there two months ago.
On May 5, DeVries said in court that she didnt feel comfortable making a final decision on the case until after she had visited the home and saw firsthand Harringtons doorway and porch.
On March 28, a surveillance camera captured on video a truck crashing into a gas pump at a Kittery gas station, causing a massive explosion.
Witnesses to the accident followed the truck as it fled the scene into Portsmouth, in order to identify the driver to police. Witnesses testified during Harringtons trial that police arrived at 90 Wibird St. seconds after the truck pulled into the driveway.
It is what took place in or around that doorway that led Judge DeVries there on Monday.
Police testified that they knocked on the door and Harrington answered.
Harringtons attorney, James Loring, argues that his client was in his home when police pulled him onto the porch and arrested him.
On Monday, DeVries stood on the porch and surveyed the home and the doorway, measuring the height of the step and the threshold.
"Officer (Andre) Wassouf said his feet were on the kitchen floor," Loring said to DeVries.
Two Portsmouth police officers, who testified in the trial, said Harrington answered the door and appeared to be drunk. His truck, which witnesses identified, was still warm and had marks from an accident.
Officer Sean Evans said before police discussed the accident with Harrington, the suspect said: "I just got home; I havent hit anything."
The officers said that when police asked Harrington to step out of the doorway of his home, he began yelling profanities and started to shut the door. The officers then grabbed Harringtons sleeve and pulled him outside, they testified.
Loring argued the arrest was unlawful under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that police are not permitted to remove a person from his or her home.
Prosecutors argued Harrington was originally seized by police, but not initially put under arrest.
"Police may temporarily detain a suspect for investigatory purposes if the police have an articulable suspicion that the person detained has committed a crime," prosecutors argued in a written statement to the court.
During the trial, police said they brought Harrington outside because they feared he would flee. If the police had waited for a search warrant to enter the home, Harringtons alcohol level could have been lower and officers would have been unable to arrest him for drunken driving, police contend.
Judge calls at home of suspect
By Elizabeth Kenny
SeacoastOnline.com
Updated: 12:50 p.m. ET May 11, 200405/11/2004 - PORTSMOUTH - District Court Judge Sharon DeVries visited 90 Wibird St. Monday to try to answer a critical question in the drunk-driving case against John Harrington: Did police violate Harringtons constitutional rights in arresting him?
DeVries visited the former home of Harrington, the Portsmouth resident arrested for driving while intoxicated and careening into a gas pump in Kittery, Maine, on March 28. She was there in an effort to decide if Harrington had been illegally pulled from his home by the police officers who arrested him.
DeVries did not talk to reporters Monday, but is expected to make a final decision later this week.
While at 90 Wibird St., the judge measured the height of the doorstep and asked questions of both Harringtons attorney and prosecutors before partly re-enacting the scene that took place there two months ago.
On May 5, DeVries said in court that she didnt feel comfortable making a final decision on the case until after she had visited the home and saw firsthand Harringtons doorway and porch.
On March 28, a surveillance camera captured on video a truck crashing into a gas pump at a Kittery gas station, causing a massive explosion.
Witnesses to the accident followed the truck as it fled the scene into Portsmouth, in order to identify the driver to police. Witnesses testified during Harringtons trial that police arrived at 90 Wibird St. seconds after the truck pulled into the driveway.
It is what took place in or around that doorway that led Judge DeVries there on Monday.
Police testified that they knocked on the door and Harrington answered.
Harringtons attorney, James Loring, argues that his client was in his home when police pulled him onto the porch and arrested him.
On Monday, DeVries stood on the porch and surveyed the home and the doorway, measuring the height of the step and the threshold.
"Officer (Andre) Wassouf said his feet were on the kitchen floor," Loring said to DeVries.
Two Portsmouth police officers, who testified in the trial, said Harrington answered the door and appeared to be drunk. His truck, which witnesses identified, was still warm and had marks from an accident.
Officer Sean Evans said before police discussed the accident with Harrington, the suspect said: "I just got home; I havent hit anything."
The officers said that when police asked Harrington to step out of the doorway of his home, he began yelling profanities and started to shut the door. The officers then grabbed Harringtons sleeve and pulled him outside, they testified.
Loring argued the arrest was unlawful under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that police are not permitted to remove a person from his or her home.
Prosecutors argued Harrington was originally seized by police, but not initially put under arrest.
"Police may temporarily detain a suspect for investigatory purposes if the police have an articulable suspicion that the person detained has committed a crime," prosecutors argued in a written statement to the court.
During the trial, police said they brought Harrington outside because they feared he would flee. If the police had waited for a search warrant to enter the home, Harringtons alcohol level could have been lower and officers would have been unable to arrest him for drunken driving, police contend.
