Can Law Enforcement Enter Your Garage without a Warrant?

A warrantless entry of the home is presumptively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution.  Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573 (1980).  The protections of the Fourth Amendment extend beyond the walls of the home and to the “curtilage.”  Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170, 180 (1984).  A “curtilage is the area to which extends the intimate activity associated with the sanctity of a [person]’s home and the privacies of life, and therefore has been considered part of the home itself for Fourth Amendment purposes.”  Id.  Courts have long held that a garage is a curtilage and therefore you have an expectation of privacy in your garage. See State v. Leutenegger, 2004 WI App 127, ¶ 21 n.5. 

Much like “it is unacceptable for a member of the public to enter a home’s attached garage uninvited.”  State v. Davis, 2011 WI App 74, ¶ 13, it is also unacceptable for law enforcement to enter your garage without a warrant.  An entry into a garage is a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.  State v. Durham, 2016 WL 3064679, 2016 WI App 57, at ¶ 29-30.  This holds true regardless of whether the garage door is open or closed and whether the actor is a citizen or member of law enforcement.  Id. 

There are exceptions to the warrant requirement such as exigent circumstances, plain view doctrine, consent, and more.  These exceptions must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. 

If law enforcement recently entered into your garage without a warrant please contact the Criminal Defense Attorneys at Padway & Padway Law Offices to discuss your case and remedies.