United States v. Emmens: United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit, 893 F2d 1292 (From Crime to Court: Police Officer's Handbook, P 5-8, 1990, Joseph C Coleman -- See NCJ-123695)

• NCJ Number: 123696
• Author(s): J C Coleman
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 4 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: South Carolina Law Enforcement Training Council
• Corporate Author: South Carolina Criminal Justice Acad
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This analysis of the legal principles underlying a 1990 judicial decision upholding a warrantless search of an airplane concludes that the trial court correctly concluded that the airplane hangar was part of the curtilage of the defendant's home and that the government was correct in its contention that the search was justified as a search at the functional equivalent of the border.

Abstract

Border searches constitute an accepted exception to the requirements of the Fourth Amendment and therefore do not require probable cause. In addition, a border search may take place at the functional equivalent of the border rather than at the border itself. Moreover, a search of the plane within the curtilage of the defendant's home was justified, because a dwelling and its surrounding curtilage is not always a sanctuary from law enforcement activity. The search was lawful if all other requirements for a valid search of the plane at the functional equivalent of the border were satisfied, including the requirement that no opportunity existed for the object of the search to have changed materially since the border crossing. Photograph.