KS: A vehicle on the curtilage belonging at house may be searched with a SW for the “premises”

A car belonging to the house the target of a search warrant and on the curtilage at the time of execution is subject to search under a warrant for the “premises.” In this case, defendant’s son was sitting in the car in the driveway and registered at that address, and the search of the car and the containers in it were valid. State v. Patterson, 2016 Kan. LEXIS 240 (April 22, 2016), aff’d 49 Kan. App. 2d 1001, 319 P.3d 588 (2014):

In discussing this principle and its application in Kansas, this court stated in an opinion affirmed and adopted by our Supreme Court that “it has been generally held that a search warrant describing only the residence will authorize a search of any buildings or vehicles within the ‘curtilage’ even though they are not specifically described in the warrant.” State v. Basurto, 15 Kan. App. 2d 264, 266, 807 P.2d 162, aff’d 249 Kan. 584, 821 P.2d 327 (1991). Operating under this general principle, this court and our Kansas Supreme Court have upheld searches of a shed behind a residence, a trash can in the rear of the yard of a residence, and an individual standing outside a residence. State v. McClelland, 215 Kan. 81, 84-85, 523 P.2d 357 (1974) (individual); State v. Ogden, 210 Kan. 510, 519, 502 P.2d 654 (1972) (trash can); Basurto, 15 Kan. App. 2d at 269 (shed). Additionally, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has repeatedly upheld searches of vehicles and other objects within the curtilage of a residence because “outbuildings and vehicles within the curtilage of a residence are considered part of that residence for purposes of a search warrant … even when not named in the warrant.” United States v. Finnigin, 113 F.3d 1182, 1186 (10th Cir. 1997); see United States v. Porter, No. 97-8016, 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 28554, 1997 WL 639318, at *1 (10th Cir. 1997) (unpublished opinion).