Backyard search ruled illegal in marijuana bust

If you’re a police officer, you need a legitimate reason to walk through someone’s backyard — and serving a protective order isn’t enough reason.

So said a state appellate court in a ruling Monday that tossed out a Brownsburg man’s conviction on misdemeanor marijuana charges.

In 2011, Hendricks County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Butterfield tried to serve a civil protective order at Duane Jadrich’s home on the 8000 block of North Ind. 267.

When he got no response at the front, Butterfield went to the backyard, even though a sign on the garage read “No Trespassing.” The back gate had a sign: “Please use front door only!!!”

In the back, Butterfield found six pot plants. Butterfield called his supervisor, who arrived with two detectives.

Jadrich let them search his home. In an ottoman, police found a pipe with marijuana residue. He was charged with marijuana possession, a Class D felony.

Earlier this year, a Hendricks County judge sentenced Jadrich to a year in jail on Class A misdemeanor charges of possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia. All but two days of the sentence were suspended.

Jadrich appealed, saying Butterfield’s foray into the backyard violated Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure.

Arguments were heard Nov. 19 at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. As part of Indiana’s “Appeals on Wheels” program, attorneys argue cases before judges in different settings to educate residents about the judicial process.

In a unanimous ruling published Monday, Judge Cale J. Bradford wrote that Butterfield had no legitimate crime-fighting reason to go into Jadrich’s backyard, a place considered “constitutionally protected and off limits” without a search warrant.

“While we acknowledge that the service of protective orders is an important official function,” Bradford wrote, “there is no indication in the record of any emergency or special urgency particular to the order at issue here.”

Because the search was improper, the court ruled the evidence was inadmissible — and overturned the conviction.

The attorney general’s office was closed Tuesday, so it’s unclear whether the state’s lawyers will appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court.

A spokesman for the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department said no one was available Tuesday to comment.

Jadrich’s Indianapolis attorney, Bryan L. Cook, said the ruling was “like an early Christmas present” for his client.

He said it’s important for police to follow the Bill of Rights. “This protects innocent people as well.”

Call Star reporter Ryan Sabalow at (317) 444-6179. Follow him on Twitter: @ryansabalow.