New Jersey Justices Allow Evidence Seized Near Burning House

Police reasonably used the likelihood of property damage as permission to search a defendant’s home and take his electronics, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a unanimous decision.

However, the court passed on a chance to expand police officers’ use of the “exigent circumstances” exception to searches—which loosens the requirement of getting a warrant—to other cases more generally.

Justice Douglas Fasciale’s opinion reversed a ruling excluding evidence police took from the garage of quadruple murder defendant Paul J. Caneiro under the exception. A lower court said police violated the Fourth Amendment by taking a home security DVR from ...