The Second Department recently upheld the suppression of evidence by a Queens County court. In People v. Morris (2124/12) the Appellate Division held that the defendant’s dropping a black plastic bag in his driveway did not allow a warrantless search. This means that a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his driveway, because the law recognizes that this area is intimately related to the activities of the home.
The police saw the defendant drop his bag and heard a “heavy thud or a clank.” These actions did not give the police enough legal cause to conduct a warrantless search.