OPEN-FIELDS DOCTRINE

open-fields doctrine.Criminal procedure. The rule permitting a warrantless search of the area outside a property owner’s curtilage. • Unless there is some other legal basis for the search, it must exclude the home and any adjoining land (such as a yard) that is within an enclosure or otherwise protected from public scrutiny. — Also termed open-field doctrine; open-fields rule. Cf. PLAIN-VIEW DOCTRINE. [Cases: Controlled Substances  134; Searches and Seizures  27. C.J.S. Searches and Seizures §§ 36, 71.]

[Blacks Law 8th]