State v. Bolte

In State v. Bolte, 115 N.J. 579, 597, 560 A.2d 644, cert. denied, 493 U.S. 936, 110 S.Ct. 330, 107 L.Ed.2d 320 (1989), the police entered the defendant's home to arrest him for drunk driving. A police officer had observed him driving erratically for approximately one mile. The defendant then entered his house through his garage door. The police officer followed him in without a warrant, arrested him and took him to the police station for a breathalyzer test. The Court noted the State's concession that when the arresting officer entered the defendant's home, he lacked probable cause to believe that the defendant had been driving while intoxicated. Ibid. Therefore, the Court noted, the police had probable cause to believe only that defendant had committed several motor vehicle violations and two disorderly persons offenses, eluding, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-2(b), and resisting arrest, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-2(a). Citing Welsh v. Wisconsin for the "holding that an arrest for a 'minor offense' can rarely support a finding of exigent circumstances sufficient to justify a warrantless home entry," the New Jersey Supreme Court held that "these offenses, individually and in the aggregate, are within the category of 'minor' offenses held by the Welsh Court to be insufficient to establish exigent circumstances justifying a warrantless home entry." Bolte, supra, 115 N.J. at 597, 560 A.2d 644.