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TX2: Dog sniff at garage door violated no reasonable expectation of privacy

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A dog sniff at the garage door is not a search, and it does not violate any reasonable expectation of privacy. Romo v. State, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 2538 (Tex. App. — Ft. Worth April 8, 2010): However, before we reach reasonableness, we must first determine whether a search even occurred. Our sister court has held that a dog sniff of a front door is not a search. See Rodriguez, 106 S.W.3d at 228-29 (holding that appellant did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy outside his home where the drug dog sniffed because the front door area was not enclosed, it was used as a main entrance to the house, and it was not protected from observation by passersby); see also Smith v. State, No. 01-02-00503-CR, 2004 Tex. App. LEXIS 1121, 2004 WL 213395, at *3 (Tex...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 15, 2010 (boomark / email).