(Download) "State New Hampshire v. Nelson Santana" by Supreme Court of New Hampshire * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State New Hampshire v. Nelson Santana
- Author : Supreme Court of New Hampshire
- Release Date : January 28, 1991
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 69 KB
Description
The defendant, Nelson Santana, was convicted after trial by jury in the Superior Court (Dalianis, J.) of sale of cocaine and
possession with intent to sell cocaine, contrary to RSA 318-B:2 (since amended, see Supp. 1989). He was sentenced to serve
five to ten years, with another five to ten year consecutive sentence suspended. On appeal he claims that the Superior Court
(Mangones, J.) erred in denying his pretrial motion to suppress evidence discovered in the apartment which the police entered
forcibly, without a warrant, and in which he was arrested. For reasons that follow, we reverse. The defendant presents two issues for our consideration. He first argues that the police may not rely on "exigent circumstances"
to justify a warrantless entry into a home when the police have probable cause and ample opportunity to obtain a search warrant,
but when, instead, they decide to take action which they know and expect will present exigency. Second, he claims that the
police failed to comply with the "knock and announce" rule, thus making their warrantless entry into the apartment unreasonable
under both the New Hampshire and United States Constitutions.