Christian County Sheriff Explains Why Officers Didn’t Raid Apartment

By KSPR News

Story Created: Mar 5, 2009
Story Updated: Mar 5, 2009

Springfield police say they had no legal right to raid an apartment where they thought a murder suspect was hiding.

The search is still on this hour for Billy Wayne Hall.

For more than four hours Wednesday, police had an apartment complex surrounded.

Around 6 pm. Wednesday, officers got permission to search from the woman who rents the apartment.

Hall was not inside.

Christian County Sheriff Joey Kyle says Springfield police called the Greene County prosecutor's office to see if they had enough probable cause to storm the apartment.

Kyle says he, Springfield police and an assistant prosecutor agreed that seeing a truck Hall was known to drive wasn't enough to get a search warrant.

"A woman rented the apartment,” Kyle says. “That individual has an expectation of privacy and because of that we just can't arbitrarily go into the house and search it."

Kyle says if the officers would have seen or heard Hall they could have entered.

Kyle says officers can search someone's home or apartment if they are given permission, if they receive a search warrant or if there's an emergency that requires immediate action.