United States v. Maki, 3:11-cr-05488

Defendant Galen Kirkwood was the subject of a psilocybin mushroom cultivation investigation; the district court denied his suppression motion.
Agents sought warrants for multiple locations; magistrate judge issued warrants except for Kirkwood’s property.
To bolster probable cause, agents conducted nighttime observations from the edge of the woods surrounding Kirkwood’s property and updated the affidavit accordingly.
Observations from the edge of the forest included a two-story structure, ventilation points, a manure pile, a greenhouse under construction, and boxes indicating cultivation equipment.
The magistrate judge ultimately issued the Kirkwood warrant after adding the new information from nighttime observations and information about three other cultivation sites found via earlier warrants.
The defense argued the search violated curtilage and Fourth Amendment protections; the court rejected this and denied the motion to suppress.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the curtilage was violated by observations from the edge of the woods	Kirkwood argues observing from forest edge invaded curtilage.	Kirkwood contends the entire property functioned as yard, extending curtilage.	No curtilage invasion; observations from edge were lawful and warrant valid.

United States v. Dunn, 480 U.S. 294 (1987) (four-factor curtilage test guiding boundary around home)
United States v. Soliz, 129 F.3d 499 (9th Cir. 1997) (curtilage depends on reasonable expectation of privacy)
United States v. Depew, 8 F.3d 1424 (9th Cir. 1993) (distance and setting affect curtilage analysis)
United States v. Riley, 76 F.3d 1271 (2d Cir. 1996) (rural vs urban/suburban curtilage considerations)
United States v. Furrow, 229 F.3d 805 (9th Cir. 2000) (farmstead context affects curtilage boundaries)