HELENA — The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against an Anaconda man who was shot and wounded by police in 2021 and claimed his constitutional rights had been violated.
In an opinion released Wednesday, the justices ruled unanimously that officers acted reasonably when they entered Trevor Case’s home without a warrant.
Anaconda-Deer Lodge police went to Case’s home in September 2021, after they received word that he was threatening suicide. Officers saw no sign of him inside and got no response from him when they yelled inside. After about 40 minutes, they entered the house, saying they were concerned he had already harmed himself or would do so soon.
Case had been hiding in a bedroom closet. When he opened the closet door, an officer saw him holding a small black object and believed Case was about to shoot him. The officer fired first and hit Case in the abdomen. Case was taken to the hospital, where he recovered. Officers found a handgun in a laundry basket near where he had been standing.
Case told MTN in 2023 that he never intended to harm or threaten the officers. However, prosecutors charged him with assaulting an officer, and a jury convicted him in February 2023.
Case’s attorneys challenged the ruling, arguing that the police had violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution – which protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures” and requires “probable cause” to justify a search warrant. They said it was officers entering the house that created the most danger for Case, because police suspected he wanted officers to shoot him, rather than to die by suicide. Attorneys argued law enforcement should have to meet a higher standard to show someone was in imminent danger.
The Montana Supreme Court was divided, but ruled the officers had acted lawfully when they entered Case’s home. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with that decision, though they used different reasoning than the state court. Federal justices said the probable cause standard only applies to criminal searches, and that officers can enter without a warrant if they have “an objectively reasonable basis for believing that an occupant is seriously injured or imminently threatened with such injury.”
Justice Elena Kagan, writing the court’s opinion, said there was enough evidence for officers in this case to conclude Case had or would soon harm himself.
“The decision of the officers to enter his home to prevent that result—even at some significant risk to themselves—was (at the least) reasonable,” she wrote. “The Fourth Amendment did not require them, as Case now argues, to leave him to his fate.”
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s office argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court in October, and he called the decision “a huge win for Montana law enforcement” in a statement.
Knudsen’s office also shared a statement from Anaconda-Deer Lodge Police Chief Bill Sather.
“We knew at the time our officers did the right thing in trying to help one of our citizens and after more than four years I’m glad the Supreme Court agreed,” he said. “Today’s decision makes it much easier for officers to do their job and keep our community safe.”
