Legal Commentary: Concurring Opinion in Riley: Dissenting Opinion in Riley; First Police Use of Helicopters; FAA Regulations on Helicopter Flights (From Crime to Court: Police Officer's Handbook, P 8-10, April 1989, Joseph C Coleman -- See NCJ-117250)

• NCJ Number: 117252
• Author(s): J C Coleman
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 3 pages
• Corporate Author: South Carolina Educational Television Network; South Carolina Criminal Justice Acad
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article reports concurring and dissenting opinions in Florida v. Riley, a search and seizure case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 23, 1989, as well as regulations governing police use of helicopters.

Abstract

Justice O'connor, in a concurring opinion in Florida v. Riley, questions whether a police helicopter flying at 400 feet is in fact in airspace normally used for travel by the public. Respondent Riley's expectation that the public and the police would not travel over his property at such altitudes in helicopters was reasonable, observed Justice O'Connor. Relying on Katz v. United States, Justices Brennan, Marshall, and Stevens dissented and said they would have suppressed the marijuana found in Riley's greenhouse as the result of the helicopter observation flight. The article includes a brief history of helicopters used in police work and details Federal Aviation Administration regulations on helicopter flights over congested and non-congested areas.