The Three-Second Wait

Detroit Police obtained a warrant to search a house for drugs and weapons. Officers arrived to execute it, knocked, and called out "Police, search warrant." They then waited somewhere between three and five seconds before turning the handle of the front door, which was unlocked, and going inside.

They found the Defendant sitting in an armchair. There were substantial quantities of drugs in the house: rocks of cocaine were in the Defendant's pocket, and a loaded firearm was wedged between the seat cushion and the armrest of the chair he was sitting in. He was charged under Michigan law with possession of the drugs and possession of the firearm.

Nobody suggested the warrant was bad, or that there had been no proper grounds to issue it. What was in dispute was the way the officers got through the door. The long-standing rule is that officers serving a warrant must knock, say who they are, and then wait a reasonable time before forcing entry — long enough that someone inside has a chance to come to the door and open it. Three to five seconds is a great deal less than the time usually thought reasonable, and the manner of entry, rather than the search itself, became the whole of the argument.