United States v. Edward Robert Traynor

Following his conditional guilty plea to manufacturing marijuana plants in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 , Traynor appeals the district court’s denial of his motions to dismiss the indictment and to suppress evidence. Traynor also challenges his sentence. The district court exercised jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231 . Traynor’s plea agreement expressly reserved his right to appeal. We thus have jurisdiction over this timely appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

I

On November 6, 1990, Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies Walker and Madsen drove to Traynor’s residence in order to investigate a tip that a marijuana growing operation was located there. The deputies turned off a public thoroughfare onto a private road and drove until they came to a locked gate where a “No Trespassing” sign was posted. Although the gate completely obstructed the road, no fences were attached to it, and beaten paths were visible on both sides of the gate.

The deputies walked around the gate and Walker approached the residence while Madsen continued down the driveway toward an outbuilding, or shop. When Walker received no response to his knock on the front door,…