{"id":9282,"date":"2013-08-17T08:48:25","date_gmt":"2013-08-17T08:48:25","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2014-07-02T12:56:43","modified_gmt":"2014-07-02T17:56:43","slug":"en-us-98","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=9282","title":{"rendered":"CA5: Dog sniff of vehicles in front of house did not violate curtilage"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dog sniff of a pickup truck and horse trailer parked in front of defendant\u2019s house off the street did not violate Dunn curtilage. United States v. Salinas<\/a>, 538 Fed. Appx. 574 (5th Cir. 2013):
\n<\/p>\n

When deciding whether a particular area is within the curtilage of the home, a court should look to the four factors set forth in United States v. Dunn, 480 U.S. 294, 301 (1987). These factors are applied to determine “whether the area in question harbors the intimate activity associated with the sanctity of a man’s home and the privacies of life such that the area is so intimately tied to the home itself that it should be placed under the home’s umbrella of Fourth Amendment protection.” Cooke, 674 F.3d at 494 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).<\/p>\n

Located approximately 15 feet from the home, the pickup truck and horse trailer were close enough that Dunn’s proximity factor weighs in Salinas’s favor. However, as the area was not enclosed, was visible from the street, and was used for parking vehicles and equine-related activities, which are not “intimately tied to the home itself,” id., the remaining factors weigh in favor of a determination that the area in question was not curtilage, but rather was an open field. See Dunn, 480 U.S. at 302-03;Mack v. City of Abilene, 461 F.3d 547, 554-55 (5th Cir. 2006). The district court did not reversibly err in determining that the area in question was an open field, not curtilage. See Dunn, 480 U.S. at 304.<\/p>\n

The foregoing determination largely resolves the issues presented by this appeal. “[O]nly the curtilage, not the neighboring open fields, warrants the Fourth Amendment protections that attach to the home.” Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170, 180 (1984). “[T]here is no constitutional difference between police observations conducted while in a public place and while standing in the open fields.” Dunn, 480 U.S. at 304.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The court never discusses Jardines curtilage. \u201cHow convenient!\u201d as the Church Lady would say; but the outcome might not have been different since the front door of the house wasn’t sniffed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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