Stevens v. State

OPINION

NESBETT, Chief Justice.

The principal question is whether a delay of approximately ten hours in conducting a homicide investigation on premises legally entered by the police in response to an emergency call, is fatal to the constitutionality of the investigation and to the admissibility of the evidence obtained.

Appellant shot and killed Frederick La-Violette during a drinking bout in appellant’s home in Hoonah, Alaska in the early morning hours of January 8, 1967. Sam Knudson, Chief of Police of Hoonah, in response to the telephone call of a neighbor, knocked on the door of appellant’s…