{"id":1614,"date":"2008-02-26T05:37:38","date_gmt":"2007-12-19T06:50:17","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-12-19T06:50:17","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=1614","title":{"rendered":"Officer’s request to merely open the door is not a seizure"},"content":{"rendered":"

The defendant had no expectation of privacy to challenge a police officer’s standing on property of another when the officer knocked on defendant’s door. A knock on the door and a request to open it is not a seizure. People v. Terrazas-Urquidi<\/a>, 172 P.3d 453 (Colo. 2007):<\/p>\n

Terrazas-Urquidi contends that the police knocked and spoke in such a manner that a reasonable person would not have believed he was free to leave the premises or to disregard their demands to open the door. However, the trial court found that the officers had acted reasonably, stating, “[I]n plain language, if the officers had been there legally, meaning at the front door of the shed, I find that their actions thereafter were reasonable and therefore legal given the circumstances they faced.” In so finding, the trial court implicitly determined that a reasonable person would not have believed that he must open the door because otherwise the court would have been compelled to hold that the police actions were unreasonable. See Mendenhall<\/em><\/a>, 446 U.S. at 554 (setting forth the standard that a person is seized if a reasonable person in the same circumstances would believe that he was not free to leave).<\/p>\n

Therefore, Terrazas-Urquidi’s argument that he was illegally seized cannot prevail unless the trial court’s findings are unsupported by the record. … The record in this case includes testimony by officers who were present at the scene, and that testimony indicates that the officers knocked on the shed door, identified themselves as police, and stated that the occupant should open the door. The record does not suggest that the officers made any threats or other statements that would cause a reasonable person to believe he must open the door. Therefore, the record supports the trial court’s finding that the officers acted reasonably by knocking on the door, announcing their presence, and telling the occupant to open the door. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Defendant was observed following and photographing small boys, and he was asked about it by an officer who was watching him. The defendant showed his camera and cycled through the pictures, and the officer let him keep the camera. Defendant voluntarily produced his driver’s license, and the officer determined that he was a level one sex offender. The officer asked for consent to search defendant’s computer at home, and the defendant was concerned that he would not get the computer back after the search. The officer explained that he would if there was nothing on the computer that was illegal. A consent form had to be signed, and it was decided that the defendant would come with the officer to the station house. He rode in the front seat, was allowed freedom of movement at the stationhouse, and then signed the consent. It was all voluntary. United States v. Randall, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92361 (N.D. N.Y. December 14, 2007).*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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