Oregon V. Paulson

In this criminal case, one of the defendants called 9-1-1 for emergency assistance at the defendants' apartment. Police officers arrived with other emergency personnel in response to the call. A police officer entered with the emergency personnel, saw evidence of a crime in plain view, and obtained a search warrant based on his observations and on statements made by defendants in their apartment. A trial court suppressed all evidence obtained pursuant to the warrant. A divided Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the police had no statutory authority to enter the apartment in response to a 9-1-1 call and that, because the police had no such authority, any evidence obtained as a result of their entry must be suppressed. State v. Paulson, 103 Or App 23, 795 P2d 611 (1990). We reverse.