I think a lot of folks are assuming this is a standard suburban yard with no fence out front and a 6-foot privacy fence out back. I can't say for sure (haven't seen a specific address), but this is out on a county road in Liberty Hill. I grew up not far from there, and last time I was out there it was mostly rural. Most likely this was a wire fence of some sort, maybe 4' high, with an unlocked gate. In my experience, the general rule is that if you have a reason to be there, you open the gate, close it behind you, and go knock at the door. Heck, a lot of those fences aren't too well maintained so you just slip through the wire (did it all the time growing up, and so did my neighbors). Some of those places, you're even going to have to drive or walk a bit to get to the house. Most likely, there was no good way of getting the occupants' attention without knocking on the door -- which is what any other visitor would do, too. I doubt the officer was going around to the back of the house (I read that the dogs came from behind the house and the boy was back there, but not that the officer went that way) or otherwise entering a really secured area.lrpettit wrote:I'm not a lawyer. I'm genuinely asking. I always considered a fence (gated or not) to mean I better have a good reason to cross it. 30.05 says notice includes "fencing or other enclosure obviously designed to exclude intruders or to contain livestock". It doesn't say anything that gates have to be locked.EEllis wrote:We have already established that the law, and most people, don't consider an unposted, unlocked gate to mean "STAY OUT!"
So maybe I'm rare when thinking it's probably not ok (in fact dangerous) to start opening people's gates and wondering in their fenced backyards (especially if there are no meters back there). But under the law does a 6 foot fence have to have locked gates for it to be "obviously designed to exclude intruders"?
Living in the suburbs now, I'd find it weird if someone entered my backyard looking for me, and a little uncomfortable if they weren't friends or family. But odds are good this was just the standard approach to the house. When I was a kid, our property in Leander was fully fenced. If someone wanted to approach the door, they had to pass through an unlocked gate and we expected that. People who didn't know us well came to the front door, which was the most obvious and accessible gate. Friends and neighbors came to the back door. We had a "beware of dog" sign, but just so people knew to close the gate. If the dogs had really been a threat to anyone, we'd have kept them out of the front yard where strangers might enter.
All of this is just generalities, but maybe some perspective on the fenced/gated issue. I lived in Leander a lot of my life and got along pretty well with the LEOs I knew there (I worked for the local paper and did a citizens' academy, so I had a fair bit of contact with them). They weren't perfect, but as good as any others I've encountered. I'm waiting for more information before I'm willing to crucify one of their officers.