preview

Kyllo V. Us : Facts About The Case

Decent Essays

KYLLO v. US Facts of the Case; A federal agent employed the use of a thermal imaging /FLIR instrument used to detect heat emission outside the premises of one Lee Kyllo in Oregon. At the evidentiary hearing argued at the District court, the court held that the instrument used is not able to penetrate through walls and expose conversations or other human movements. After the surveillance using the device, it was concluded that the amount of heat emanating from Kyllo’s residence was abnormal particularly from the garage roof and sidewalls (the premise is that to grow cannabis sativa inside a house on needs a large amount of light to aid the plants in the process of photosynthesis). Using the information obtained the Department of Interior obtained search warrant. A search was subsequently conducted and true to their suspicion Federal agents found marijuana plants inside Kyllo’s home. Charges were preferred against Kyllo for growing cannabis sativa in his Oregon home. The evidence obtained through the heat imaging device was first challenged by Kyllo, he later on pleaded a conditional guilty. He appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court citing grounds of intrusion of his privacy/trespass, claiming that the observations gained from the thermal-imaging device constitutes a search in respect to the Fourth Amendment .The Court of Appeals upheld the conviction. This prompted Kyllo to petition a writ of certiorari at the US Supreme Court. Statement of Rule; A clear statement rule

Get Access