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The sheriff definitely had the right to search the farm field, and possibly had the right to search in sheds without a warrant. I’m not a lawyer, but there is a
by quickthrowman 4y ago
The sheriff definitely had the right to search the farm field, and possibly had the right to search in sheds without a warrant. I’m not a lawyer, but there is a Supreme Court case that defines what is and isn’t protected on someone’s property, the result of the case is the open fields doctrine. [0] Open fields are not protected by the 4th amendment, the shed may or may not have been protected.
This is related to the common law concept of ‘curtilage’. [1]
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hester_v._United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hester_v._United_States
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtilage https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtilage
- ghufran_syed 4y agoIt also sounds like the sherrif chose NOT to prosecute, and tried to handle the matter informally - I think this is just good policing unless it's only certain social or ethnic groups that get the benefit of the doubt in these kind of circumstances