Overview
- Justices held police may enter a home without a warrant only when there is an objectively reasonable basis to believe someone inside is seriously injured or imminently threatened.
- Applying that test, the Court upheld William Trevor Case’s assault conviction arising from a 2021 Montana welfare check and sent the matter back for proceedings consistent with the ruling.
- The decision declines a new probable-cause threshold and corrects state courts’ looser formulations, while emphasizing the exception remains narrow and non-investigatory.
- Officers in Case’s incident entered after about 40 minutes of no response, having seen signs they took as a suicide risk; an officer shot Case when he emerged holding what appeared to be a gun, and a handgun was later found nearby.
- Concurring opinions flagged risks in police responses to mental-health crises and traced the emergency-aid doctrine’s roots, offering guidance for de-escalation and the doctrine’s limited scope.