Police Officer Who Climbed Through Apartment Window Sentenced to 110 Hours of Community Service

A Latvian police officer who climbed through an open window into a ground-floor apartment without legal grounds and against the residents' will must serve 110 hours of community service. The Senate, the Supreme Court's chamber that handles cassation appeals in Latvia, has declined to open cassation proceedings, so the Kurzeme Regional Court ruling has entered into force. The Supreme Court reported this.

What happened

While on duty, the officer had come to the apartment to check information that contraband cigarettes might be stored there. The people inside refused to open the door and let him in. Nevertheless, he stepped through the open window and sat down on the windowsill. He did not get any further, because the people in the apartment resisted.

Court findings

The court of first instance, the Kurzeme District Court, found that the officer acted unlawfully and with direct intent. It concluded that he knew he had no legal basis to enter the home: the residents had not given permission, neither administrative offence proceedings nor criminal proceedings had been started in connection with the information being checked, and he had not obtained permission from the duty prosecutor for urgent entry. He was found guilty of violating the inviolability of the home and sentenced to 110 hours of community service.

The defence lawyer appealed, but the Kurzeme Regional Court left the finding of guilt and the sentence unchanged. It corrected only a clerical error in the part of the ruling concerning the person to whom compensation for harm is to be paid.

Senate decision

The Senate established that in the cassation complaint the defence lawyer largely repeated arguments that the regional court had already assessed and rejected with reasoning. They sought to overturn the ruling on factual rather than legal grounds. The Senate refused to open cassation proceedings, and the conviction took effect.