Opinion ID: 607688
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Warrantless Search of the Exterior of the Building

Text: 27 Finally, Heldstab argues that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated by Voss' warrantless inspection of the exterior of the building. Our analysis under the Fourth Amendment must focus on whether Heldstab enjoyed a  'constitutionally protected reasonable expectation of privacy.'  California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207, 211 (1986) (quoting Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 360 (1967) (Harlan, J., concurring)). As the Court noted in Katz, the Fourth Amendment protects people, not places. What a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection. Katz, 389 U.S. at 351. The exterior of a home is generally something that is knowingly exposed to the public. Nothing in the record suggests otherwise in this case. Voss stated in his affidavit that he observed no No Trespassing signs on the property. No member of the public would have been deterred from walking along the side service walks, which is where Voss walked. Thus, Heldstab did not manifest an actual expectation of privacy with regard to the exterior of his building; but even if he secretly had one, it is not one that is objectively reasonable. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. at 215. 28 Heldstab nevertheless contends that he did have a reasonable expectation of privacy because, prior to Voss' inspection, he had sent a letter to Commissioner Jensen expressly denying permission to come onto his property without a warrant to perform inspections. R. 9, exh. k. Heldstab's letter clearly manifested an intention to keep the Commissioner and his agents off of his property. However, it also acknowledged that future searches might be performed from the public street or sidewalk or alley. We do not believe that the letter gave Heldstab a reasonable expectation of privacy. We conclude that the warrantless search of the exterior of Heldstab's building did not violate his rights under the Fourth Amendment.