Opinion ID: 698466
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The District Court's Ruling on the Motion to Suppress

Text: 15 After hearing the evidence, the district court found that McKee had observed the marijuana plants while making a routine flight over the area at an altitude of 500 feet. The court found incredible the private investigator's testimony that the plants could not be spotted from this altitude. Thus, the court concluded that the initial observation of the marijuana plants did not violate defendants' Fourth Amendment rights. The district court further found that Granger's execution of the Consent to Search Authorization was voluntary; the court said: I find this defendant to be a big, burly sort of guy, who is obviously not intimidated by this courtroom or any of the proceedings going on, and with the experience of an ex-policeman, certainly is familiar enough with all of the processes and procedures not to be intimidated by a smaller sheriff with whatever reputation he might have. 2 Finally, the district court found that Fernandez did in fact acquiesce in the permission given by Granger to search the trailer. 3 Accordingly, the district court denied the motion to suppress.