United States v. Thomas

EBEL, Circuit Judge.

Defendant Doane Keith Thomas was convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) as a felon in possession of a firearm. He now challenges the district court’s refusal to suppress the firearm as evidence. We hold that exigent circumstances justified the police officers’ warrantless entry into the apartment from which the firearm was retrieved, and that once inside the apartment the officers were permitted to seize the gun from plain view as evidence of a crime. Accordingly, we AFFIRM.

BACKGROUND

Tulsa police officer Ron Kawano was on patrol near a four-unit apartment building after…