OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the convictions of Cameron Watkins, also known as “Crazy Gun,” who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. The case centered on whether a police officer’s act of peering through a one-inch gap in a motel room curtain constituted an unlawful search under the Fourth Amendment.
According to court records, police were investigating a violent carjacking that occurred in an Oklahoma City motel parking lot on October 8, 2021. A motel manager directed officers to Room 231, where a man matching the suspect’s description was believed to be staying. Officer Michael McNally stood on the motel’s open-air walkway and looked through a one-inch opening in the room’s window curtains. He observed Watkins sitting on the bed next to a handgun with an extended magazine.
Watkins was arrested after a three-hour standoff. A search warrant led to the discovery of a loaded Glock pistol and ammunition. He was later indicted and convicted on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and a separate count related to ammunition found at a July 2022 murder scene.
On appeal, Watkins argued that the officer’s observation through the curtain gap was an unconstitutional search, violating his expectation of privacy. The appellate panel disagreed, finding that the officer had used only his natural vision from a publicly accessible area. The court ruled there was no intrusion into the room’s curtilage or violation of privacy because the officer did not use any enhancement tools and stood in a place open to other motel guests and staff.
The majority opinion emphasized that visual observations made from a public place using the unaided senses do not qualify as Fourth Amendment searches. The court declined to exclude the evidence and upheld the convictions.
Circuit Judge Nancy Moritz dissented, warning that the majority’s opinion risks eroding privacy rights. She argued that peering through a small gap in motel curtains into a private space where a person is partially undressed constitutes an intrusive search. Her dissent cautioned against expanding permissible surveillance and compared the officer’s conduct to peeping.
Watkins received consecutive sentences totaling 300 months: 120 months for the firearm conviction and 180 months for the ammunition charge.
