City of Beatrice v. Meints

A city code enforcement officer entered Appellant’s urban property, which was unfenced and uninhabited, without a warrant to investigate numerous motor vehicles and motorcycles without license plates or vehicles that were inoperable. Appellant was subsequently convicted of multiple violations of a municipal ordinance relating to unregistered motor vehicles. On appeal, the district court reversed Appellant’s convictions on two of the twelve counts and otherwise affirmed. Appellant appealed, arguing that the officer violated his Fourth Amendment rights by entering his property without a warrant. The court of appeals affirmed, concluding that a warrantless search of Appellant’s real property occurred but that the search was reasonable under the probable cause exception to the warrant requirement. The Supreme Court affirmed on different grounds, holding (1) probable cause does not justify a warrantless search of real property; but (2) under the open fields doctrine, there was no search in this case for purposes of the Fourth Amendment. View "City of Beatrice v. Meints" on Justia Law