Cannon owned the property at 1250 Hemlock Street. The officer who prepared the affidavit described it as a single family dwelling and did not mention a second structure at that address (the “rear building”)which the officer assumed was a garage. The warrant application did not specify the putative garage as a place to be searched for marijuana based on information received from an informant about Cannon. In fact the rear building had been converted from a garage into a guest house, and was rented to a tenant, Cook. It consisted of three separate areas, each with its own entrance: a dwelling area with a living room, a sleeping deck, and a bathroom. The other two areas were storage areas were connected to the rear building by common walls, and each with its own exterior entrance door. Marijuana was found in storage rooms were connected to a guest house. The court concluded that these areas were within the curtilage of the main house and thus fell within the scope of the search warrant. The court also opined that the dwelling area of the guest house (in which no contraband was found) was a separate dwelling for which a separate warrant would have been required.
Case Summaries