FL2: Permitting officers through a gate was not consent to roam the curtilage

Officers asked defendant whether they could come through his gate to talk to him, and he agreed. That did not amount to consent to roam the curtilage or search the house. Ferrer v. State, 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 1406 (Fla. App. 2d DCA February 3, 2012):

We reject the State’s contention that once Ferrer open the locked gate, general “knock-and-talk” principles authorized the deputies to proceed to the front door area. See, e.g., State v. Navarro, 19 So. 3d 370, 372-73 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009). The State argues that because the officers were free to proceed to the front door of the house to knock and talk, the evidence of marijuana was legally obtained under the “plain smell” doctrine. However, the facts of this case do not demonstrate the implied general consent to enter the curtilage of the house that provides the basis for entry to conduct a knock-and-talk investigation. Rather than leaving his property open for any member of the public to enter, Ferrer had taken steps to keep out uninvited visitors by fencing it and erecting an electric gate across his driveway, thereby demonstrating an expectation of privacy. Cf. Nieminski v. State, 60 So. 3d 521, 525-27 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011) (finding no violation of privacy where officers entered fenced property through a closed, but unlocked, gate). Thus, while officers were free to approach the gate to conduct a knock and talk—which they did—the area inside the fence fell under the same constitutional protections as the residence itself, and the officers were not at liberty, absent consent, to approach the residence. Compare Fernandez v. State, 63 So. 3d 881, 883-84 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011) (holding that the defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the fenced yard adjacent to his residence and that the momentary opening of the gate to allow the defendant to leave was not an invitation for police to enter); with State v. Triana, 979 So. 2d 1039, 1045 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (finding no constitutional violation where the police had a consensual encounter with the defendant outside of the locked gate to the defendant’s property and the defendant agreed to a search and opened the gate to allow the police to enter).