Dillon v. Superior Court

Dillon v. Superior Court (1972) 7 Cal.3d 305 involved a situation where the defendant's neighbor had complained to the police that she had observed what appeared to be marijuana plants growing in the defendant's yard. Although the defendant's yard was separated from her neighbor's yard by a fence, the police were able to observe the marijuana plants from the second-story bedroom window of the neighbor's house. The Dillon court upheld both the propriety of the officer's observations and the right of the police to enter the yard to make a warrantless seizure of the marijuana plants. It must be noted, however, that such holding appears to have been based upon two facts: (1) the growing plants were vulnerable to observation by any of the defendant's neighbors; and (2) the defendant voluntarily agreed to accompany the officers into the yard.