A defendants Fourth Amendment rights were not violated by officers entering a natural clearing around a travel trailer that was frequently used for sleeping. The defendant argued that the trailer was a personal dwelling house and that the clearing around it constituted protected curtilage. The Ninth Circuit rejected both arguments, holding that the defendant had failed to demonstrate that the trailer was a home within the definition set forth in Hester v. United States (1924) 265 U.S. 57, and that the clearing surrounding it was thus not protected by the Fourth Amendment. Thus, the district court did not err in issuing search warrants based on observations made by officers who entered the clearing without a warrant.
Case Summaries