[pgkdan]

if police had made their way into a situation without satisfying every legal technicality (such as entering a home without a warrant), then they were not necessarily allowed to use deadly force to defend themselves even if another party threatened them with deadly force.

Ummm...illegally entering a private home without a warrant is not exactly what I'd call a legal technicality.

[Fhios]

Not true and never has been true.

Exceptions are hot pursuit, probable cause that a crime has, is or going to be committed (no minority report jokes please).

[Hulka]

I’d like to know more. Were the police pursuing a thug and the thug entered a home in an effort to get away? “Hot pursuit” applies.

Or were the police walking by and heard screaming and other noises that indicate somebody in distress? Exigent circumstances apply.

If the police were just walking down the street and decided to enter any home they wanted, that’s different.

Need more facts.