BAINBRIDGE TOWNSHIP -- A woman's home is her castle, even when teens are drinking in the basement.

An appeals court ruled that Bainbridge Township police should not have entered Phyllis Andrews' home without a warrant, even though they saw underage drinking, because no emergency existed.

The 11th Ohio Court of Appeals sent the case back to Geauga County Juvenile Court, which had denied Andrews' request to suppress evidence because the search was invalid. She was found guilty after pleading no contest to contributing to the delinquency of a minor but her seven-day jail sentence was put on hold pending her appeal.

"The underlying premise is that before you go into someone's home you need a warrant," said David Maistros, Andrews' attorney. "There are exceptions, such as chasing someone or if some harm is coming to someone in the house. But in this situation there was no emergency. Clearly they would have been granted a warrant, but they did not feel like taking the time to do it."

Geauga County Prosecutor David Joyce will appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.

"Proper steps were taken by the police and the safety of the juveniles were in question at that point," he said. "They were worried the kids could get very sick."

Police went to Andrews' home on Lake-in-the-Woods Trail in May 2007 after being called about a loud party. They saw only beer cans and a burning bonfire in the yard. When they looked in basement windows they saw about 20 youths with beer cans and cups.



Andrews answered the front door but closed it when asked for identification. An officer in the back yard noticed the basement was now dark.

About 10 minutes later Andrews, with her driver's license, opened the door. A sergeant, without asking permission, pushed past her and entered.

Two judges wrote in the ruling released last week that while Andrews' actions in overseeing a drinking party were deplorable, police should have gotten a warrant, even if it took hours. There was no danger because the youths were confined to the house and beer cans and other evidence would not likely be destroyed, they wrote.

Judge Diane Grendell dissented, writing that the youths in the house could be in danger if they drank excessively or tried to escape and drive away.

Seven youths were charged with underage drinking, Maistros said. Andrews, 44, could not be reached for comment.