Reference no: EM133249591

Mr. Cortez owned 20 acres of land. Cortez enclosed his land with a fence. The fence was 10 ft high on two sides and 4 ft high on the other two sides. Cortez also had another fence surrounding his house. About 50 yards behind Cortez's house, Cortez had a barn that was enclosed by its own fence. The fence surrounding the bard was 10 ft high. Cortez also had posted a "No Trespass" sign on the fence surrounding the barn.

Federal agents received a tip that Mr. Cortez was operating a meth lab from within the barn on his property. The agents did not currently possess enough evidence to obtain a search warrant. Agent Shields decided to try to see what was in the barn. Shields first climbed the outer fence on the property and then attempted to climb the fence surrounding the barn. However, Shields could not get over the fence because there was barbed wire on top. Shields' second plan was to fly over the barn with helicopter. Shields stayed within FAA elevation limits and flew over the property. Shields could not get a good look at what was going on in the barn from the helicopter, but he did see a lot of people coming and going from the barn. Shields third and final plan was to put a high-powered camera attached to a Consumers Energy pole located just outside of Cortez's property. With the high-powered camera that the FBI had special ordered for this case, Shields was able to see in the tiny windows on the barn. Shields observed Cortez operating a meth lab inside the barn. Shields then used this evidence to obtain a search warrant and arrest Cortez.

Mr. Cortez argues that his 4th Amendment rights were violated. Assume that Agent Shields gathered some evidence for his search warrant from each of his 3 plans. Did any of his 3 plans violate Mr. Cortez's rights? Why or why not? Explain for each plan. Be sure to discuss all of the issues.