Warrantless Homes Entries, Curtilage, and Open Fields

Watch Anthony, the nation's best search and seizure instructor deliver an informative and interesting one-hour webinar concerning:
- Curtilage
- Open fields
- Hot pursuit
- Imminent destruction of evidence
- Protective sweeps
And a lot more!
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[@joshashdown4431]

Thank you for the extra stuff and webinars your team is putting out. We all need the training time with everything going on. We look forward to the in person classes again when things get back to normal.

[@BluetoGold]

Josh Ashdown Thank you for the feedback and same here, I look forward to in person classes again. Still the online live classes are doing well too. Hopefully cops will still consider that option.

[@Caleb-zt5ht]

Thanks for this training! Your red, green, and yellow lights for the curtilage is really helpful!

[@BluetoGold]

Thanks Caleb, the easier we can make it for our officers the better, the job is hard enough.

[@indigobunting2431]

On KZbin, we do not see the videos at all -- just blank screens. Secondly, it is confusing that you do not articulate the right answer ["He can." or "He cannot, you are right."] We cannot see what Zoom participants choose as their answer to your questions. Can this be fixed?

[@BluetoGold]

Hello Indigo, we appreciate the feed back. I would love to address your concerns, please send me a message to: [e-mail] and we'll respond as soon as possible.

[@chadreed1047]

In the Alexander case of curtilage, what defines where the yellow area of the driveway ends, and the red area of the driveway begins?

[@Chloe_Athey]

Why can officers detain someone in their curtilage (IE, control their movements, etc) but not have the authority to arrest them? If someone is detained on curtilage and they tell you to leave, does that take away your yellow color-coded access like in Briuzula V City of Sparks?

[@chadvandenberg1017]

Good stuff Anthony. In regards to the Alexander case, couldn't the case be made that we had exigency to head to the back yard (red zone) under the recognized exception of "destruction of evidence"? If we had plain view narco in the front of the residence and there is sudden flight of a suspect to the backyard to discard the bag, it seems reasonable to me that we could infer that he could be heading to the backyard to destroy the ev. Your thoughts?

[@BluetoGold]

Great question. The destruction of evidence argument probably wouldn't work in Alexander because at the time he headed to the backyard, the cops did not know that there was any evidence to "destroy." At the time of the stop all the cops had were people drinking in the street. And Alexander was drinking on his property, so no crime. The plain view drug evidence came a little later. Therefore, the only viable argument I see here is to detain Alexander since he's involved (essentially) in the other criminal conduct. And him grabbing a bag and heading away seems like an officer safety issue to me. It's definitely suspicious. We then go from there. In the end, after the bag was moved and he came back, there is no evidence that the evidence in the bag would be destroyed before getting a warrant. Tough case either way.

[@chadvandenberg1017]

@@BluetoGold Gotcha. Thanks for the insight.

[@jimmarka3983]

What color applies in a dwi case where the officer received 2 calls but never saw the driver drive. The parked car is 180' from the right of way parked on private property on the grass next to an attached garage? Mn

[@BluetoGold]

Well its tough to say without seeing pictures of the property. But I can see a judge or two deciding that the area right next to the garage would be curtilage. So the next question is would the police have some form of exigency. Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on the facts.

[@jtracyful]

Anthony, For the DV scenario where the male half re-enters the residence. Can't the officer go inside and make the arrest based on the "Fresh Pursuit" doctrine? Thx

[@BluetoGold]

Fresh or hot pursuit will likely not work. First, I define fresh pursuit for serious violent crimes where the general public is at risk. Not likely with your vanilla DV. Second, hot pursuit, or chasing people into their home, must start OUTSIDE their home. So if the suspect is already inside his home then both doctrines will likely not apply. Instead, the officers need another warrant-less recognized exception. Hope this helps. If not, let me know.

[@jtracyful]

Blue to Gold yes that makes sense, thx. I need to read up on fresh pursuit more. I was under the impression that it was good for violent felonies (DV), but not misdemeanors.

[@BluetoGold]

@@jtracyful You're welcome. I have not seen a case dealing with DVs, but either way fresh pursuit is usually upheld because the person is a danger to society, or will escape before capture, etc.. It's not necessarily just about the severity of the crime. That's part of it, but you should also have an additional reason to "go in and get 'em." Usually, the suspect has a weapon and is hiding out. Hopefully that helps too.

[@jtracyful]

In your stolen car example (@ 25min), could police tow the car without a warrant if it was parked in the yellow zone located right in front of the red area?

[@BluetoGold]

@@jtracyful I would not tow the car unless you stopped it under a traffic violation (i.e. the car pulled into the driveway). If the court determines it's curtilage then you cannot take enforcement action without consent, exigency, or a warrant.

[@jackgarand7284]

What about a walled and gated community; are the common areas curtilage?