Michigan v. Clifford

464 U.S. 287 (1984)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Ds, were arrested and charged with arson in connection with a fire at their private residence. In the early morning hours of October 18, 1980, a fire erupted at Ds' home. Ds were out of town on a camping trip at the time. The Detroit Fire Department arrived on the scene at about 5:40 a. m. The fire was extinguished and all fire officials and police left the premises at 7:04 a. m. At 8 o'clock in the morning a fire investigator with the arson section of the Detroit Fire Department received instructions to investigate the fire. The Fire Department suspected arson. The investigator did not proceed immediately to the residence. He and his partner finally arrived at the scene of the fire at about 1 p. m. on October 18. A work crew on the scene boarding up the house and pumping six inches of water out of the basement. The investigators waited for the water to be pumped out. They found a Coleman fuel can in the driveway that was seized and marked as evidence. By 1:30 p. m., the water had been pumped out and the investigators without obtaining consent or an administrative warrant entered the residence and began their investigation into the cause of the fire. They quickly confirmed that the fire had originated in the basement beneath the basement stairway. By 1:30 p. m., the water had been pumped out and the investigators without obtaining consent or an administrative warrant entered the residence and began their investigation into the cause of the fire. They quickly confirmed that the fire had originated in the basement beneath the basement stairway. They detected a strong odor of fuel throughout the basement and found two more Coleman fuel cans beneath the stairway. As they dug through the debris, the investigators also found a crock pot with attached wires leading to an electrical timer that was plugged into an outlet a few feet away. The timer was set to turn on at approximately 3:45 a. m. and to turn back off at approximately 9 a. m. It had stopped somewhere between 4 and 4:30 a. m. All of this evidence was seized and marked. They looked through the rest of the house and found a large portion of items had been removed. There were nails on the walls but no pictures. They found wiring and cassettes for a videotape machine but no machine. Ds moved to exclude all exhibits and testimony based on the basement and upstairs searches because they were conducted without a warrant, consent, or exigent circumstances and that they, therefore, were per se unreasonable under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. That motion was denied. Before trial, they again moved to suppress the evidence. The trial court denied the motion on the ground that exigent circumstances justified the search. The court certified its evidentiary ruling for interlocutory appeal and the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed. P appealed.