Walnut Hill Estate Enterprises, LLC v. City of Oroville

MEMORANDUM

Appellants brought this action against the City of Oroville, and its employees David Goyer, Becky Fraser, Ray Sandoval, Chris Gail, and Derek Prestesater, alleging that inspections, performed pursuant to search warrants for code violations at the Oroville Inn and a subsequent Notice to Repair or Demolish, violated their First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The district court granted summary judgment on all claims. We affirm.

1. The inspection warrants were not facially invalid. It is undisputed that the City observed the property in dilapidated conditions while responding to a fire alarm at the Inn. Thereafter, the Fire Marshall and code inspector observed specific code violations when they went to the Inn to talk to the maintenance man. These plain view observations of health and safety violations are sufficient to create probable cause for a search warrant. See Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499, 509 , 98 S.Ct. 1942 , 56 L.Ed.2d 486 (1978)(“[I]t would defy reason to suppose that firemen must secure a warrant or consent before entering a burning structure to put out the blaze. And once in a building for this purpose, firefighters may seize evidence of…