ND: “No trespassing” sign on a farmstead is not enough to create REP

A “no trespassing” sign on a farmstead is not enough to create a reasonable expectation of privacy from an entrance to the property as any member of the public would. State v. Mittleider, 2011 ND 242, 809 N.W.2d 303 (2011):

[*P17] We have recognized that a “no trespassing” sign posted on a structure, particularly a residence, indicates a reasonable expectation of privacy. See Kochel, 2008 ND 28, ¶ 9, 744 N.W.2d 771. In Kochel, the defendant had a “no hunting or trespassing” sign posted on the steps outside his mobile home addition. Id. We noted “[a]ny uncertainty that the addition is an integral part of the home where privacy is reasonably expected is removed by the presence of the sign.” Id. (emphasis added). The “no trespassing” sign in Kochel is distinguishable from the “no trespassing” signs at issue here. In Kochel, the defendant posted a “no trespassing” sign on the steps immediately outside of a fully enclosed addition to his mobile home. Id. Here, the Mittleiders posted “no trespassing” signs around their farmstead, and it is unclear from the record how closely the signs were posted to the entrance. The district court noted any member of the public would have entered the farmstead in the same manner the officers did, and there was no evidence “that there was a ‘no trespass’ sign mounted on a post or immediately to the edge of the road[.]” We decline to adopt the Mittleiders’ broad argument that, on rural property in North Dakota, an individual’s expectation of privacy “envelopes much of the land.” We hold the “no trespassing” signs posted around the Mittleiders’ farmstead did not create a reasonable expectation of privacy in the entrance of the farmstead. Because a reasonable expectation of privacy was not invaded, art. I,§ 8 of the North Dakota Constitution is not implicated and we need not determine if it provides broader protection than its federal counterpart. Rydberg, 519 N.W.2d at 310.