People v. Calhoun

*401OPINION OF THE COURT

Fuchsberg, J.

In the circumstances of this case, we hold that the warrantless search of the defendant’s residential apartment by two fire marshals in the aftermath of a fire whose cause they were intent on discovering did not abuse the proscriptions of either the Fourth Amendment to the Federal Constitution or the comparable protection to be found in section 12 of article I of our State Constitution.

The question arises in the following context:

A jury has convicted defendant, James Calhoun, of arson in the third degree, reckless endangerment in the second degree and assault…