''Semayne's Case'' (January 1, 1604) 5 Coke Rep. 91, is an English

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

case reported by Sir

Edward Coke Sir Edward Coke ( , formerly ; 1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634) was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He is often considered the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan and Jacobean era, Jacobean eras. Born into a ...

, who was then the Attorney General of England. In the United States, it is recognized as establishing the "

knock-and-announce Knock-and-announce, in United States law criminal procedure, is an ancient common law principle, incorporated into the Fourth Amendment, which requires law enforcement officers to announce their presence and provide residents with an opportunity ...

" rule.

Facts

Richard Gresham and George Berisford were

joint tenants In property law, a concurrent estate or co-tenancy is any of various ways in which property is owned by more than one person at a time. If more than one person owns the same property, they are commonly referred to as co-owners. Legal terminolo ...

of a house in

Blackfriars, London Blackfriars is in central London, specifically the south-west corner of the City of London. Blackfriars Priory The name first occurs in records of 1317 in many orthographies. Friar evolved from as has, meaning 'brother'. Black refers to the ...

. Berisford died while in debt to Peter Semayne. Semayne then secured a civil

writ of attachment A writ of attachment is a court order to " attach" or seize an asset. It is issued by a court to a law enforcement officer or sheriff. The writ of attachment is issued in order to satisfy a judgment issued by the court. A prejudgment writ of atta ...

on Berisford's goods, which were located inside the house. After the

Sheriff of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

was denied entry by Gresham, the sheriff offered to break and enter into the house. Instead, Semayne sued, bringing an

action on the case The writs of trespass and trespass on the case are the two catchall torts from English common law, the former involving trespass against the person, the latter involving trespass against anything else which may be actionable. The writ is also known ...

against Gresham for his losses. Initially, the court could not reach a decision, with Lord Chief Justice John Popham and Lord Justice Francis Gawdy believing the sheriff could break and enter, while Lord Justices Edward Fenner and

Christopher Yelverton Sir Christopher Yelverton (1536 – 31 October 1612) was an English judge and Speaker of the House of Commons. Ancestry Christopher Yelverton came from an ancient Norfolk family, tracing their descent back to Andrew Yelverton, who held conside ...

insisting he could not. After the

coronation of James I and Anne The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of James VI and I, James I and his wife Anne of Denmark, Anne as List of English monarchs, king and List of English royal consorts, queen of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Ireland, Irel ...

and the appointment of Lord Justice David Williams to the bench, the case was reargued.

Judgment

In 1604, the

Court of King's Bench The Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the '' curia regis'', the King's Bench initi ...

gave judgment against Semayne. The court resolved: *It is not a felony for a man to defend his house to the death. *Sheriffs may break and enter to recover

seisin Seisin (or seizin) is a legal concept that denotes the right to legal possession of a thing, usually a fiefdom, fee, or an estate in land. It is similar, but legally separate from the idea of ownership. The term is traditionally used in the context ...

over real estate. *Sheriffs may break and enter on the king's business after a request for entry is refused. *Sheriffs may enter when the door is open. *The householder's privilege does not extend to strangers or their goods. *Sheriffs should request entry in civil cases. As authority, Coke reported citation to a statute enacted by King

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

in 1275, which he said merely affirmed the pre-existing common law. The holding of the case can best be summed by Coke's words: The case is also famous for Coke's quote:

Influence

In 1605, Coke published the case in the fifth volume of his ''Reports''. After his

Petition of Right The Petition of Right, passed on 7 June 1628, is an English constitutional document setting out specific individual protections against the state, reportedly of equal value to Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights 1689. It was part of a wider ...

, Coke, in his ''

Institutes of the Lawes of England The ''Institutes of the Lawes of England'' are a series of legal treatises written by Sir Edward Coke. They were first published, in stages, between 1628 and 1644. Widely recognized as a foundational document of the common law, they have been cit ...

'', adopted the view alone that warrants issued on bare suspicion violate ''

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

''. After the

Interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...

, Sir Matthew Hale wrote in his ''

Historia Placitorum Coronæ ''Historia Placitorum Coronæ'' or ''The History of the Pleas of the Crown'' is an influential treatise on the criminal law of England, written by Matthew Hale (jurist), Sir Matthew Hale and published posthumously with notes by Sollom Emlyn by ...

'' that an

arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be question ...

without a warrant could be made by forced entry. After the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

, William Hawkins and Sir Michael Foster thought no forced entry was permissible if a warrant issued on bare suspicion. In his ''

Commentaries on the Laws of England The ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' (commonly, but informally known as ''Blackstone's Commentaries'') are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarend ...

'', Sir

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, Justice (title), justice, and Tory (British political party), Tory politician most noted for his ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', which became the best-k ...

emphasized the castle doctrine but took the view that forced entry was permitted if the suspected felony had actually occurred. The rule was relied upon in the landmark case of ''

Entick v Carrington ''Entick v Carrington'' 765EWHC KB J98is a leading case in English law and UK constitutional law establishing the civil liberties of individuals and limiting the scope of executive (government), executive power. The case has also been influenti ...

'' B 1765 when Lord Camden held that no general warrant could issue on suspicion of

seditious libel Seditious libel is a criminal offence under common law of printing written material with seditious purposethat is, the purpose of bringing contempt upon a political authority. It remains an offence in Canada but has been abolished in England and ...

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, (2 March 1705 – 20 March 1793), was a British judge, politician, lawyer, and peer best known for his reforms to English law. Born in Scone Palace, Perthshire, to a family of Peerage of Scotland, Scott ...

, however, was skeptical of limits to forced entry by holding in 1772 that officials were allowed to obtain entry by fraud and in 1774 that the limit applied only to a dwelling's outer door. The sentiment of "an Englishman's home is his castle" became very popular, with

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British people, British British Whig Party, Whig politician, statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pit ...

famously speaking against the

Cider Bill of 1763 The Cider Bill of 1763 was a proposed measure by the British government of Lord Bute to put a tax on the production of cider. Britain's national debt had reached unprecedented levels during the early 1760s following the country's involvement in ...

by telling Parliament: Blackstone’s language on the

castle doctrine A castle doctrine, also known as a castle law or a defense of habitation law, is a legal doctrine that designates a person's abode or any legally occupied place (for example, an automobile or a home) as a place in which that person has protection ...

was also very popular in the United States, where it was widely followed by state courts. In ''Miller v. United States'' (1958), the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

recognized that police must give notice before making a forced entry and in '' Ker v. California'' (1963), a divided Court discovered that the limitation was extended to the states by the

US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constitut ...

. However, in '' Wilson v. Arkansas'' (1995) the US Supreme Court created an exception to prevent the destruction of evidence and in '' Hudson v. Michigan'' (2006), it held in a 5–4 vote that the

exclusionary rule In the United States, the exclusionary rule is a legal rule, based on constitutional law, that prevents evidence collected or analyzed in violation of the defendant's constitutional rights from being used in a court of law. This may be conside ...

does not require the suppression of evidence seized by police during an illegal forced entry. Recently, police in the United States often give no notice before forced home entry during the widespread use of

no-knock warrant In the United States, a no-knock warrant is a warrant issued by a judge that allows law enforcement to enter a property without immediate prior notification of the residents, such as by knocking or ringing a doorbell. In most cases, law enforcemen ...

Notes

{{Reflist English tort case law 1604 in English law 1600s in case law 1604 in England Court of King's Bench (England) cases Edward Coke cases United Kingdom constitutional case law

Facts

Judgment

Influence

See also

Notes