66
Syllabus
Such execution is governed by the general touchstone of reasonableness that applies to all Fourth Amendment analysis. See Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U. S. 106, 108-109. Excessive or unnecessary property destruction during a search may violate the Amendment, even though the entry itself is lawful and the fruits of the search not subject to suppression. Applying these principles to the facts at hand demonstrates that no Fourth Amendment violation occurred. The police certainly had a "reasonable suspicion" that knocking and announcing their presence might be dangerous to themselves or others, in that a reliable informant had told them that Alan Shelby might be in respondent's home, an officer had confirmed this possibility, and Shelby had a violent past and possible access to a large supply of weapons and had vowed that he "would not do federal time." Moreover, the manner in which the entry was accomplished was clearly reasonable, in that the police broke but a single window in the garage to discourage Shelby, or anyone else, from rushing to the weapons that the informant had told them were there. Pp. 70-72.
2. The officers executing the warrant did not violate § 3109, which provides: "The officer may break open any . . . window . . . to execute a search warrant, if, after notice of his authority and purpose, he is refused admittance . . . ." Contrary to respondent's contention, that statute does not specify the only circumstances under which an officer executing a warrant may damage property. By its terms § 3109 prohibits nothing, but merely authorizes officers to damage property in certain instances. Even accepting, arguendo, that it implicitly forbids some of what it does not expressly permit, it is of no help to respondent. In both Miller v. United States, 357 U. S. 301, 313, and Sabbath v. United States, 391 U. S. 585, 591, n. 8, this Court noted that § 3109's prior notice requirement codified a common-law tradition. The Court now makes clear that § 3109 also codified the exceptions to the common-law requirement of notice before entry. Because that is the case, and because the common law informs the Fourth Amendment, Wilson and Richards serve as guideposts in construing the statute. In Wilson, the Court concluded that the common-law announcement principle is an element of the Fourth Amendment reasonableness inquiry, but noted that the principle was never stated as an inflexible rule requiring announcement under all circumstances. 514 U. S., at 934. In Richards, the Court articulated the test used to determine whether exigent circumstances justify a particular no-knock entry. 520 U. S., at 394. Thus, § 3109 includes an exigent circumstances exception and that exception's applicability in a given instance is measured by the same standard articulated in Richards. The police met that standard here. Pp. 72-74.
91 F. 3d 1297, reversed and remanded.
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