State v. Jones

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

GARIBALDI, J.

In this appeal, the issue is whether it was reasonable, under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, paragraph 7 of the New Jersey Constitution, for a police officer, following the fleeing subject of an outstanding arrest warrant, to enter a private residence using force if the officer did not know the offense underlying the warrant.

I

On the evening of October 15, 1989, Peter Katsihtis parked his Mazda MX6 in the parking lot of the Stony Hill Inn, which was located across the street from his residence.…