State v. Sanders

¶ 34. (concurring). I read Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740 (1984), to say that neither exigent circumstances nor hot pursuit justify entry into a home where the nature of the offense is a nonjailable, civil forfeiture traffic violation. That is all. Nowhere did the Welsh court say that its holding applied to misdemeanors as well. The Court did say that the gravity of the underlying offense is a consideration and did also say that the circumstances are more clearly exigent when the offense is a "serious crime." Id. at 752-63. But the court stopped short of drawing a bright line.

¶ 35. That…