The screened-in porch is an area not entitled to Fourth Amendment protection. Even it it was, the officers acted reasonably when they entered to knock on the door to the house inside the porch with an arrest warrant. United States v. Bergin, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79583 (M.D. Fla. August 6, 2010):<\/p>\n
Defendants argue that Deputy Roberts violated the Fourth Amendment when he entered the screened-in porch area to knock on the door. The Report and Recommendation correctly rejects this argument (Doc. #205, p. 29, n.6). Even in the absence of any type of warrant, officers may approach a residence and knock on the door for legitimate police purposes unconnected with a search of the premises, United States v. Taylor<\/a>, 458 F.3d 1201, 1204 (11th Cir. 2006); United States v. Bervaldi<\/a>, 226 F.3d 1256, 1263 (11th Cir. 2000) and may tell the suspect to exit the residence. Knight v. Jacobson<\/a>, 300 F.3d 1272, 1277-78 (11th Cir. 2002). The Supreme Court drew a “firm line” at the threshold of the home, not the front porch. Payton v. New York<\/a>, 445 U.S. 573, 590 (1980); …. The Fourth Amendment was not violated when the officer entered the porch area, and defendants’ objections to the contrary are overruled.<\/p>\n
Alternatively, the Court will assume that the screen-enclosed front porch constituted a portion of the home to which there was a reasonable expectation of privacy, either as curtilege, United States v. Dunn<\/a>, 480 U.S. 294, 300 (1987), or as a component of the house itself within the meaning of Payton. See McClish v. Nugent<\/a>, 483 F.3d 1231, 1241-42 (11th Cir. 2007) (Payton<\/a> created a firm line delimiting a zone of privacy defined by the “unambiguous physical dimensions of an individual’s home.”) The Court will further assume that the screen door to that porch was the “threshold” referred to in Payton. With these assumptions, the officer’s entry into the screened-in porch was nonetheless lawful. There were two outstanding felony arrest warrants against Jason Bergin for violation of probation. The officers could lawfully enter the house to arrest defendant because there was a valid outstanding arrest warrant, the location was defendant’s residence, and defendant was inside the residence. United States v. Bennett<\/a>, 555 F.3d 962, 965 (11th Cir. 2009); …. Therefore, even assuming the porch is a protected portion of the residence, the entry into the porch area was nevertheless lawful.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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