A MAN’S HOME IS HIS CASTLE

My name is Danny Kyllo and this is my true story. It’s about the little guy who takes on the mighty United States government and wins against all odds in the United States Supreme Court. It’s has to do with life, privacy, and advancing technology that threatens them all. I was busted for growing marijuana on January 24, 1992. I found out they used a thermal imager on my house without a warrant. When I found out how a thermal imager works, I was outraged. It basically can see what’s going on inside a persons home without actually entering it. It's like having x-ray vision. I felt my privacy was violated by technology from that point on. This is about a 10-year fight through the court system. I had a court appointed attorney which makes it even more interesting. After many appeals my case was finally heard on February 20, 2001, in the biggest court in the land; the United States Supreme Court. On June 11, 2001, I won on a 5-4 Landmark decision that had a swing vote at the end that made it even more suspenseful. I think I set the record for the longest pretrial release; nearly 10 years. This was one case that didn’t want to end but when it did, man was I happy. Through all of this I can look back and honestly say that this was the toughest thing I ever went through in my life. I could have given up many times but didn’t. I was never a quitter and wasn’t about to start now.

After my victory I made it on the front page of every major newspaper in the United States and abroad and was so overwhelmed with interviews that I couldn‘t keep up with them all. Basically I made it famous overnight which was very hard to deal with and I just tried to go with the flow. After what I went through I think I was ready for anything and that helped a lot. I've done many live TV and radio talk shows and I think I got a little better after each one. I think I was less nervous, but with anything live, you have to be ready for any question they ask and have an answer quickly, which I could do. My whole life I was always a quick thinker and now that helped so I didn’t look or sound like a stuttering fool. I always tried to get across that my privacy was violated by technology 10 years ago. That is primitive stuff to what the government has today. We have to make sure they don’t use it in an illegal manner. At least now law enforcement will have guidelines, wrote by the majority of the Supreme Court, to go by. No technology now or in the future shall be used on a private dwelling without a search warrant. What I loved about this decision was they were covering things not even invented yet. With the way technology was moving I could see why. Before that law enforcement had no rules and could use it on anyone they chose, like they did in my case. I just hope they follow the law. Now with technology getting better and better every year at least we have my case to protect us from prying eyes looking into our homes.

I decided to get a computer and tell my story to the whole world. I put up my own website to see what kind of reaction I would get. It didn’t take long until I was getting e-mails from people all around the country congratulating me on my victory. That victory reaffirmed our 4th amendment right to privacy once again. A lot of them were college law students, that were on summer break asking questions about my case. I think I hit a vein with them because it had to do with privacy. This was the first case since U.S. vs. Katz some 30 years ago to make it to the Supreme Court with so much riding on it and more. A lot of things have changed in 30 years and the laws had to be updated. I really enjoyed hearing from all those future lawyers and was glad to give my input.

I was having a great summer and thought nothing could bring me down. In August I got an e-mail from the New York Times which said they saw my website and think I have a good story to tell. They wanted to know if I was interested in doing a interview and have some pictures taken and if interested to give them a call at this number. I was on cloud nine knowing this was the biggest newspaper in the land and they were contacting me. Here it was 2 month after my court victory and it still wasn’t dying down. It was just getting bigger and starting to snowball. It was too late to call that night so I called them the next day. I told them that it would be an honor to do a interview for the New York Times. I wondered what they had in mind. They said they were still working on the details and would let me know the exact date once they knew it. I told them that I’ll be waiting for their call and hung up. I thought this was great and the sky was the limit for were this could lead. I waited for three weeks and still didn’t hear from them. Finally I decided to give them a call the first week of September. I left a message on their answering machine telling them that if they're still interested in doing a interview to give me a call. Then came 9/11.

My story began in 1991 when I was 26. It was such a wild journey that no one could have imagined the outcome. I’m 43 years old now and my dad has been there every step of the way. He is the best dad anyone could hope for. He went to everyone of my hearings in Portland and gave me the support I needed to make it through this tough ordeal. The police even tried to connect him to my grow which wasn’t true and that put a lot of pressure on him. So this is also the story of that outcome. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be writing this book. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my whole family Lorie Kyllo my sister and my dear mother Hilda Kyllo who died from an infection in her brain on March 14, 2006. The doctors first diagnosed it as a brain tumor. When the doctors finally figured out it was an infection they gave her powerful antibiotics but it was too late. That’s why I’m dedicating this book to her because she supported me my whole life. She always told me to write this book and it would be a best seller. I miss her dearly and think about her every day. I know that life is short and you should love them all.you can because you never know when they will be gone. She was 60 years young and I couldn’t have asked for a more loving mom. I wrote a poem in her honor and it goes like this. I had a mother, I loved her so, She always worried, When ever I would go, Now she is gone, And I miss her so, Life is so short, You don’t even know, So love them now, while they're still here, because once they're gone, they just disappear.