Police who entered a homeowner’s yard without a warrant but who then shot and killed a dog in front of a horrified 12-year-old girl now have to go to trial on damages for violating the Fourth Amendment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Thursday.
Overturning a jury verdict favoring police in Hartford, Conn., the circuit concluded that the department’s blanket assertion that they were operating in a high-crime area was insufficient to establish the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment.
