Ashlock v. Commonwealth, 403 S.W.3d 79

Ashlock pled guilty conditionally to one count of cultivating marijuana, five or more plants, a Class D felony.
Police conducted a warrantless curbside trash pull to obtain probable cause for a search warrant at Ashlock’s residence.
A search of Ashlock’s residence, pursuant to a warrant, uncovered multiple marijuana plants.
Ashlock moved to suppress the evidence, arguing the trash pull violated Lexington-Fayette anti-rummaging ordinance No. 82-2011, Chapter 16, Article II, Section 16-15(f).
The trial court denied the suppression motion; Ashlock entered a conditional guilty plea and was sentenced to one year in prison with three years probation.
The issue on appeal was whether the trash-pull evidence violated the Fourth Amendment or Kentucky Constitution Section 10; the court affirmed the conviction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trash pull violated the Fourth Amendment or KY Const. Art. 10	Ashlock argues trash pull breached constitutional protections	Ashlock contends ordinance elevates privacy beyond federal/state protections	No violation; ordinance unaffected; trash left outside curtilage is not protected

California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (U.S. Supreme Court 1988) (no Fourth Amendment prohibition on warrantless garbage searches outside curtilage)
Dunn v. Commonwealth, 360 S.W.3d 751 (Ky. 2012) (Section 10 does not exceed Fourth Amendment protection)
LaFollette v. Commonwealth, 915 S.W.2d 747 (Ky. 1996) (Section 10 not broader than federal constitution (abrogated on other grounds by Kyllo))
Magda v. Benson, 536 F.2d 111 (6th Cir. 1976) (anti-rummaging ordinance is local law, not federal constitutional law)
U.S. v. Dzialak, 441 F.2d 212 (2nd Cir. 1971) (government’s appropriation of abandoned property cannot be unlawful under the law)
Artis v. Commonwealth, 360 S.W.3d 771 (Ky. App. 2012) (Supreme Court declined to extend enhanced privacy protections)