Opinion ID: 758506
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Refrigerator Search

Text: 39 During the course of the joint drug and murder investigation, local law enforcement officials received a warrant to search a property known as the Ogg farm for two vehicles registered to Dennis Fenner. This search warrant did not indicate the names of the owners or residents of the Ogg farm. On May 2, 1994, county investigators executed the search warrant. During the search, one investigator noticed a refrigerator located about eight to ten feet from a mobile home on the premises. The refrigerator was partially covered by a tarp and was tied to a handcart. The officer lifted the tarp to inspect the refrigerator more closely. There was not a freezer door, so when the officer lifted the tarp, he was able to see into the freezer compartment where he observed drug paraphernalia, including a scale and baggies, and a cylindrical container. Further investigation disclosed a small amount of marijuana inside the container. Investigators used the evidence from the May 2 search to obtain another warrant on May 3, 1994. The May 3 search warrant authorized the search of the mobile home on the Ogg farm property which it identified as Hoff's residence. 40 Hoff filed a motion to suppress evidence, claiming that the search of the refrigerator was outside the scope of the warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Hoff attached a copy of the May 2 and 3 search warrants to his motion in an attempt to establish that the property searched was his residence. In response to Hoff's motion, the government contended that Hoff lacked standing to contest the search. To support this assertion, the government submitted a transcript from a December 1994 Dunn County Court proceeding in which Hoff denied ownership of the refrigerator. 4 Hoff failed to produce further evidence or to file an affidavit asserting standing, choosing instead to rely only on his motion and the search warrants. After evaluating all of the evidence, Judge Crabb noted that Hoff had not produced any evidence that he owned the mobile home or that he was occupying it at the time of the search despite the fact that he was on notice that he had to come forward with evidence to prove standing. She concluded that Hoff had failed to meet his burden of establishing a requisite interest in the refrigerator, and therefore, he lacked standing to object to its search. 41 We review the district court's findings of fact after a suppression hearing for clear error, while reviewing conclusions of law and mixed questions of law and fact de novo. Duguay, 93 F.3d at 349-50. The party seeking suppression bears the burden of establishing that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the area and items searched. United States v. Ruth, 65 F.3d 599, 604 (7th Cir.1995). In order to establish a reasonable expectation of privacy, the party must show that he had an actual, subjective expectation of privacy that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable. Id. (citation omitted). 42 Since the police officers had a valid warrant to search Hoff's property for vehicles, Hoff challenges only the additional search of the refrigerator. Hoff argues that he had standing to challenge this search solely because the refrigerator was within his curtilage, relying on the two search warrants to prove that the refrigerator was within his curtilage. Hoff did not testify or submit an affidavit regarding his expectation of privacy in the refrigerator. 43 Hoff cites Alderman v. United States, 394 U.S. 165, 89 S.Ct. 961, 22 L.Ed.2d 176 (1969), to support his argument. In Alderman, the Court held that [i]f the police make an unwarranted search of a house and seize tangible property belonging to third parties ... the homeowner may object to its use against him, not because he had any interest in the seized items as 'effects' protected by the Fourth Amendment, but because they were the fruit of an unauthorized search of his house, which is itself expressly protected by the Fourth Amendment. Id. at 176-77, 89 S.Ct. 961. However, the Court was quick to note that if the police were to enter a house pursuant to a valid warrant authorizing the seizure of specified gambling paraphernalia but discover illegal narcotics in the process of the search, the narcotics may be seized and introduced in evidence in the prosecution of the homeowner, whether the narcotics belong to him or to a third party. Id. at 177 n. 10, 89 S.Ct. 961. 44 In the present case, the police entered Hoff's curtilage pursuant to a valid warrant. Therefore, Hoff cannot raise a claim based on an unauthorized search of his curtilage. Hoff cannot assert a protected interest in the refrigerator based solely on the fact that the refrigerator was within his curtilage. He must establish that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the refrigerator. As noted above, Hoff does not claim that the refrigerator was his or assert that he had any expectation of privacy in the refrigerator apart from the fact that it was within his curtilage. 5 As was the case in Ruth, Hoff attempts to meet his burden by relying on the search warrants and testimony by a law enforcement officer. See Ruth, 65 F.3d at 604-05. In Ruth, we noted that since the existence of a privacy interest depends, in part, on the defendant's subjective intent it is almost impossible to establish a reasonable expectation of privacy without an affidavit or testimony from the defendant. Id. at 605. In the present case, Hoff fails to present any evidence showing that he had a subjective expectation of privacy in the refrigerator. Therefore, Hoff has failed to establish that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the refrigerator, and he does not have standing to challenge the search. 6