California v. Ciraolo
United States Supreme Court
476 U.S. 207 (1986)
Relevant factsFree
Acting on an anonymous tip, police flew over Ciraolo's (defendant's) home in a private plane and, from 1,000 feet, photographed marijuana growing in a backyard shielded from ground-level view by two fences; that observation supported a search warrant that led to seizure of 73 plants. The California Court of Appeals reversed the resulting conviction, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.
IssueFree
Whether warrantless police aerial observation of an enclosed backyard within a home's curtilage, from a lawful altitude in public airspace, violates the Fourth Amendment.