Court Opinion

ID: 9528722
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:43:23.855599+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:27:15.402842
License: Public Domain

ROSE, Justice,
dissenting, with whom CARDINE, Justice, joins.
I dissent to the holding by the majority that Curtis Tompkins had no expectation of privacy in the property searched by deputy sheriffs and, therefore, had no standing to object to the constitutionality of the search.
In an effort to obtain probable cause of the commission of a crime, two deputy sheriffs crawled through a fence surrounding the Tompkins land and searched the enclosed property. Appellant Curtis Tompkins, his brother and his sister resided on that property in separate cabins. Curtis Tompkins argues on appeal that he had an expectation of privacy in that fenced property on which he lived with his family.
It is well settled that an individual has a legitimate expectation of privacy in his home, Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980), and in the grounds and buildings associated with his home. Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170, 104 S.Ct. 1735, 80 L.Ed.2d 214 (1984). Such areas deserve the most scrupulous protection from governmental invasion. Payton v. New York, supra.
Furthermore, a defendant’s lack of legal title of ownership to the searched property does not diminish his reasonable expectation of privacy in that property. We held in Parkhurst v. State, Wyo., 628 P.2d 1369 (1981), that a guest in an automobile owned by another could reasonably expect freedom from state encroachment and, therefore, had standing to protest the search of the car’s trunk.
The majority do not dispute these basic rules of standing, but conclude that Curtis Tompkins had no expectation of privacy in the homes of his brother and sister. The search objected to by appellant, however, is the search of the fenced property as a unit, shared by family members. The family resided on the property, enclosed it, and each member had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the living areas, including the *845greenhouse. It is unrealistic and unjust to analyze the privacy interests in this case as though the individuals involved were mere neighbors residing on distinct pieces of property.
Curtis Tompkins had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the areas unlawfully invaded by officials searching for marijuana plants. Therefore, he had standing to object to the constitutionality of the search. I would have reversed the judgments entered against both Curtis Tompkins and Wayne Tompkins.