ANACONDA - An incident that occurred in a residence on this street in Anaconda five years ago was recently scrutinized by the United States Supreme Court, and the decision it came to will have a national effect on the right of police to enter a private residence.
“I never thought that I would ever work on anything that important in my career. Certainly, I didn’t ever expect to have a case go before the United States Supreme Court,” Ben Krakowka, who was the prosecuting attorney in Anaconda on the case at the time, said.
The high court upheld the Montana Supreme Court’s decision that Anaconda police did not violate an Anaconda man’s Fourth Amendment right to unlawful search and seizure when they entered his home in September of 2021without a warrant. Police suspected William Trevor Case was suicidal and planning to harm himself. Case ended up being shot and wounded by an officer after Case jumped out of a closet with a firearm.
WATCH: From small-town Montana to the highest court in the land - an Anaconda case has established nationwide precedent for police emergency powers
Case was eventually charged and convicted of assault on a peace officer and sentenced to five years in prison. Case argued to the Supreme Court that the case should be dropped because police entered his home without a warrant. The high court ruled police had reasonable bases to enter the home.
“This decision is setting a bar, not just for Anaconda, not Montana, but for the whole country. This is when you can go into somebody’s house when you think there’s an emergency situation going on inside,” Krakowka said.
Case’s sister, KC Betchie, told MTN News that she is disappointed with the court’s decision and believes police had no legitimate reason to enter her brother’s home.
Krakowka believes that if the high court ruled against his side, this would have a chilling effect on policing.
“What we would have wound up seeing is in emergency situations officers would have been reluctant to go into somebody's home to render aid, and we would have wound up seeing more people die,” he said.
Local police applauded the decision.
“It’s a good decision for law enforcement, because it makes sense. It makes our job a little easier, and it makes it so we can protect citizens better,” Butte Sheriff Ed Lester said.
