"The same view of the farm as that enjoyed by passersby": Opinion, US v. Houston

ROGERS, Circuit Judge. Rocky Houston appeals his conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). At trial, the primary evidence against Houston was video footage of his possessing firearms at his and his brother’s rural Tennessee farm. The footage was recorded over the course of ten weeks by a camera installed on top of a public utility pole approximately 200 yards away. Although this ten-week surveillance was conducted without a warrant, the use of the pole camera did not violate Houston’s reasonable expectations of privacy because the camera recorded the same view of the farm as that enjoyed by passersby on public roads. Houston’s remaining arguments on appeal— challenges to certain evidentiary decisions, to his classification as a “prohibited person” under § 922(g)(1), and to the reasonableness of his sentence—also lack merit.

Read the entire decision, in the <a href="http://www.pennydean.org/sites/default/files/16a0031p-06.pdf">attached PDF file</a>