Hot Pursuit: Learn What Constitutes “Pursuit” vs. “Search” and Other Details of This Recent Fourth Amendment Appellate Decision

By Robert Phillips  
Deputy District Attorney (ret.) 

Legal Issues and Case Citation 

• Hot pursuit 
• Hot pursuit of a fleeing suspect versus merely searching for him 
• Law enforcement’s act of killing a person’s dogs 
• Jones v. City of North Las Vegas (9th Cir. Sep. 8, 2025) 150 F.4th 1030 

Summary: Hot (or fresh) pursuit of a fleeing suspect provides an exception to the warrant requirement for when officers enter the curtilage of a person’s home, which includes an enclosed backyard.  

In this case, upon officers responding to a possible domestic violence report, the suspect was observed fleeing over the backyard wall as an officer was talking with the alleged victim at the front door. Rather than giving chase, officers called for assistance and cordoned off the neighborhood. Some 18 minutes later, a police lieutenant with his K-9 trained to detect the odor of “apocrine” (a hormone released when a person is afraid) entered the walled-off backyard of a residence five houses away after his dog alerted on the area. When he did so, he was attacked by the residents’ three pitbulls. After the officer shot and killed two of the dogs, the residents sued in federal court. The trial court ruled that the officers and the city had qualified immunity. Reversing this decision, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the lieutenant’s entry into the backyard without a search warrant violated the Fourth Amendment in that the officers were not in hot pursuit of — but were instead merely searching for — the fleeing suspect in that he had not been seen for at least 18 minutes. However, although potentially liable for trespassing into the curtilage of the plaintiffs’ home, the lieutenant was held not to be liable for killing the dogs in that under the circumstances, he had the right to protect himself.   

Rule: Hot (or fresh) pursuit of a fleeing suspect provides an exception to the warrant requirement for officers when they enter the curtilage of a person’s home, which includes an enclosed backyard. Searching for a suspect not seen ....