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The Indiana Court of Appeals will travel to Indiana University Northwest on Jan. 30 to hear oral arguments in a case involving a woman who claims police unlawfully entered her home and arrested her for drug possession in early 2023.
Oral arguments in Dede R. Bisel v. State of Indiana will begin at 10:30 a.m. Central time and will be streamed online.
Bisel was arrested in March 2023 after the Jay County Sheriff’s Office searched her home and found several grams of methamphetamine, marijuana, and other paraphernalia inside, according to court documents.
After receiving several complaints about possible drug activity at the home, a lieutenant went to the home and performed a “knock and talk,” but no one answered.
A couple of days later, the lieutenant returned and saw two people enter the home. When he knocked on the door again, a woman who was not Bisel answered, and the lieutenant reported that a marijuana odor and smoke came billowing out the door.
He returned to his squad car, called for backup and a search warrant, and went back to the house at the same time the two people were leaving.
He instructed them to knock on the door, and Bisel answered. She allegedly tried to slam the door shut and retreat to her living room.
Concerned that she would try to destroy evidence, the lieutenant entered the home to detain Bisel, according to court documents. Bisel contends he illegally entered her home without a warrant.
She allegedly resisted the lieutenant’s entry, kicking and pushing the lieutenant and other officers who’d arrived at the home.
Bisel was detained and the lieutenant received a search warrant on the house that same day. Police executed the search warrant and found the drugs and other paraphernalia, according to court documents.
The state of Indiana handed down several charges, including possession of paraphernalia, dealing in methamphetamine, maintaining a common nuisance, and battery.
Bisel filed two motions to suppress, claiming that no exigent circumstances existed that justified the lieutenant’s warrantless entry into her home apart from those created by him, particularly when only a minor offense (the potential presence of marijuana) was suspected.
Her second motion to suppress claimed that after she refused to respond to police repeatedly knocking at her back door, they should have left and sought a search warrant, but instead forced their way in only because they smelled marijuana, according to court documents.
Bisel said the lieutenant violated both her state and federal constitutional rights by entering her home without a warrant.
The trial court denied her motions, stating exigent circumstances did exist, namely that the lieutenant was concerned that Bisel would destroy evidence .
Now, Bisel is appealing to the appellate court, arguing that the trial court erred in denying her motions to suppress because the lieutenant’s “knock and talk” warrantless entry violates Indiana and the United States constitutions.
The case is Dede R. Bisel v. State of Indiana, 25A-CR-1055.
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