St. Louis County Police Department officers illegally entered a home without a warrant and confronted the homeowners at gunpoint. The officers had no reasonable evidence that the man they were looking for was inside the home.

Early in the morning on July 10th, 2016, two officers entered the Luer-Steinebach home without a warrant following a report from a taxi driver that a man who had evaded paying his fare had left the taxi in the general direction of the Luer-Steinebach home. Officers first searched the exterior of the house, and then entered the home, where they found all the residents of the home asleep and unarmed. 

The officer's warrantless entry and search of the area surrounding the Luer-Steinebach home and the home itself presents a clear violation of the resident's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches. This was heard in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, which found the officers in violation of the Fourth Amendment following the ACLU of Missouri's lawsuit.

 

Find the Legal Glossary here: https://www.aclu-mo.org/en/node/124

Attorney(s)

Jessie Steffan, Anthony E. Rothert, Gillian R. Wilcox

Date filed

February 21, 2017

Court

Missouri Western District Court, Western Division

Status

Active