California v. Sabo, 86-1289
| Decision Date | 18 May 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 86-1289,86-1289 |
| Parties | CALIFORNIA v. Ronald Lee SABO and Angela Marie Zizzo |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
On petition for writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District.
The motion of respondent Ronald Lee Sabo for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is granted. The motion of respondent Angela Marie Zizzo for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is granted. The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.
During a routine helicopter patrol a deputy sheriff observed what he believed to be marijuana plants growing inside a 15 by 20 foot greenhouse located in respondents' back yard. The helicopter hovered at 400 to 500 feet and circled the greenhouse in order to give the deputy a better look at the marijuana. Based on this observation a search warrant issued and deputies seized the marijuana. A trial court held the marijuana inadmissible as evidence and the California Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the deputy's observation of the greenhouse from the hovering helicopter violated the Fourth Amendment. People v. Sabo, 185 Cal.App.3d 845, 230 Cal.Rptr. 170 (1986). The Court of Appeals distinguished California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 1809, 90 L.Ed.2d 210 (1986), on the ground that there the observation of marijuana was made from a fixed-wing aircraft flying in navigable airspace at an altitude over 1,000 feet. The court concluded that here the helicopter was not in navigable airspace as that term is defined at 49 U.S.C. § 1301(29), but recognized that the helicopter was lawfully positioned because federal regulations allow operation of helicopters at altitudes less than the minimum permitted to fixed-wing aircraft,
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provided that the helicopter operates without hazard to persons or property, see 14 CFR § 91.79(d) (1986).* The court expressed concern about the capabilities of helicopters to furnish "a platform for aerial surveillance," id., 230 Cal.Rptr. at 175, and held that the search in this case infringed on a reasonable expectation of privacy.
The Court of Appeals' holding that the helicopter was not in navigable airspace is questionable, and even if this is technically correct it remains true, as the court conceded, that the helicopter was lawfully positioned when the deputy observed the marijuana in respondents' greenhouse. While it is certainly possible that...
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Doggett v. State
...the surface. [14 C.F.R] at § 91.119(d)." 13 F.Supp.2d at 1231. Furthermore, in his dissenting opinion in California v. Sabo, 481 U.S. 1058, 107 S.Ct. 2200, 2201, 95 L.Ed.2d 855 (1987), Justice White observed that hazardous operation of helicopters could include "interminable hovering, raisi......
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