<P> Florida v. Riley, 488 U.S. 445 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court decision which held that police officials do not need a warrant to observe an individual's property from public airspace . </P> <P> The Pasco County Sheriff's Office received a tip that Michael Riley was growing marijuana on his 5 acres (20,000 m) of rural property . A deputy sheriff subsequently investigated the tip and went to Riley's mobile home . Unable to see inside a greenhouse, which was behind the defendant's mobile home, the deputy circled over the property using a helicopter . The absence of two roof panels allowed the deputy to see, with his naked eye, what appeared to be marijuana growing . A warrant was obtained and marijuana was found inside the greenhouse . Riley successfully argued before the trial court that the aerial search violated his reasonable expectation of privacy and Fourth Amendment rights . The Court of Appeals disagreed, siding instead with the state, but the Florida Supreme Court agreed with Riley and overturned the Court of Appeals . </P> <Ul> <Li> "Whether surveillance of the interior of a partially covered greenhouse in a residential backyard from the vantage point of a helicopter located 400 feet (120 m) above the greenhouse constitutes a' search' for which a warrant is required under the Fourth Amendment and Article I, 12 of the Florida Constitution ."--Justice White, quoting the Florida Supreme Court decision </Li> </Ul> <Li> "Whether surveillance of the interior of a partially covered greenhouse in a residential backyard from the vantage point of a helicopter located 400 feet (120 m) above the greenhouse constitutes a' search' for which a warrant is required under the Fourth Amendment and Article I, 12 of the Florida Constitution ."--Justice White, quoting the Florida Supreme Court decision </Li>

Florida v. riley (1989) approved the warrantless aerial surveillance noting that