Justice Deborah Dowling
Wright argued police failed to lawfully arrest him in his home under a valid arrest warrant. He also claimed they lacked a legal basis to enter his home to arrest him without a warrant and sought to suppress items seized from the unlawful arrest. Wright further argued the identification procedures utilized during the investigation were unduly suggestive, and should also be suppressed. A detective was assigned to investigate a home invasion where items, including a cell phone, were taken. Police obtained a pen registry warrant to track the location of the phone, which the Technical Assistance Response Unit tracked to Wright’s home. Wright’s mother answered the door, and when Wright approached and was informed of the investigation, he ran towards the back of the apartment, with police following. Officers recovered the phone in an adjacent room from where Wright was apprehended. The court found that while the arrest was lawful due to exigent circumstances, suppression of the phone was granted as police did not have a legal basis to search Wright’s home. Yet, it denied suppression of the identifications finding the procedure was not unduly suggestive or improper.
