Opinion ID: 1121458
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motion to Suppress Clothing

Text: (1a) Defendant contends that the search and seizure of his clothing, found in Smith's car, violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 13 of the California Constitution for two reasons: first, Smith, the owner of the car, did not have authority to consent to the search of defendant's clothing; second, the failure of the police to request defendant's permission to search his clothing vitiates Smith's consent. We conclude the search of the clothing did not violate defendant's constitutional rights and that suppression of the clothing and any evidence derived from it was not required. [2] The Mendocino County Superior Court, prior to the change of venue in this case, held a hearing on defendant's motion pursuant to section 1538.5. Ukiah Police Department Officers Fred Kelley, Ed Gall, Wayne McBride and Charles Durfee testified at the hearing. An audiotape cassette and a transcript of a tape-recorded statement by the defendant were also admitted into evidence. The facts relating to the search of Smith's car as presented during this hearing are as follows: Based upon the coincidence of finding in the victim's luggage a bottled wine cooler of the same brand and flavor as the one carried by the defendant, Detective Kelley asked another officer to request that defendant return to the police station for questioning. Defendant complied with the request. Prior to questioning defendant, Kelley and Gall went to 778 South State Street, where defendant was a guest. There, in defendant's absence, they questioned Michelle Stevens and Smith. The officers learned that defendant had returned early in the morning of July 19, but had been locked out of the house. Defendant told Stevens and Smith that he had slept in Smith's car, which was parked in front of the house. Michelle Stevens told the policemen that she did not permit any alcoholic beverages on the premises and she showed them that there were no such beverages in her refrigerator. Kelley then requested permission from Smith to search his car for anything that might help [him] out in [his] investigation and Smith agreed. While searching the car, Kelley noticed a pair of jeans and a vest on the back seat. Kelley removed the clothes from the interior of the car into the sunlight and noticed what appeared to be blood spatters below the knees of the jeans and blood swipes on the vest. [3] Detective Kelley showed the clothing to Stevens and Smith, who told him that defendant was wearing the clothes when he left the house on the night of the murder. Kelley seized the clothes and returned to the police department to interview defendant. Defendant concedes that the car belonged to Smith and that Smith had authority to permit Kelley to search the car. (See United States v. Matlock (1974) 415 U.S. 164, 170-171 [39 L.Ed.2d 242, 249-250, 94 S.Ct. 988] [ Matlock ]; People v. Boyer (1989) 48 Cal.3d 247, 276-277 [256 Cal. Rptr. 96, 768 P.2d 610].) [4] Defendant argues, however, that Kelley's movement and examination of the clothes found in the car constituted a separate search for which Smith's consent was not sufficient. We disagree. (2), (3)(See fn. 5.) The United States Supreme Court has explained the basis for valid third party consent to a search as rest[ing] ... on mutual use of the property by persons generally having joint access or control for most purposes, so that it is reasonable to recognize that any of the co-inhabitants has the right to permit the inspection in his own right and that the others have assumed the risk that one of their number might permit the common area to be searched. ( Matlock, supra, 415 U.S. at p. 171, fn. 7 [39 L.Ed.2d at pp. 249-250].) [5] Thus, objects left in an area of common use or control may be within the scope of the consent given by a third party for a search of the common area. (See 3 LaFave, Search and Seizure (2d ed. 1987) ง 8.5(c), pp. 299-304.) (1b) As the owner of the searched car, Smith unquestionably had a possessory interest in it. Smith gave the police his consent to search the car for anything that might prove helpful in the investigation of the murder. By leaving his clothes readily displayed on the seat of Smith's car, defendant assumed the risk that Smith would consent to a search of the car and its contents. Defendant simply retained no legitimate privacy interest in the clothes as against Smith or Smith's invitees. The Fourth Amendment is not violated unless a legitimate expectation of privacy is infringed. (E.g., Illinois v. Andreas (1983) 463 U.S. 765, 771 [77 L.Ed.2d 1003, 1010, 103 S.Ct. 3319].) We have reviewed the authorities cited by defendant in support of his contrary position and conclude that none require that we reach a different result. We specifically hold that the general nature of Smith's consent explains why defendant's cause is not advanced by reliance upon Arizona v. Hicks (1987) 480 U.S. 321 [94 L.Ed.2d 347, 107 S.Ct. 1149]. In that case, a bullet fired through the floor of the defendant's apartment injured a man on the floor below. The police entered the defendant's apartment without a warrant in order to search for the shooter, for other victims and for weapons. During the search, a police officer noticed two sets of expensive stereo equipment. Suspecting the equipment was stolen, the officer read and recorded the serial numbers, moving some of the equipment in order to do so. After checking the serial numbers by phone, the police officer seized certain components that indeed were stolen. The Supreme Court held that the moving of the stereo equipment was an unlawful search. The court reasoned: But taking action, unrelated to the objectives of the authorized intrusion, which exposed to view concealed portions of the apartment or its contents, did produce a new invasion of respondent's privacy unjustified by the exigent circumstances that validated the entry. ( Id. at p. 325 [94 L.Ed.2d at p. 354], italics added.) By contrast in the present case, the police were granted consent to search the car for anything helpful to the investigation of Rosie Grover's murder. The search of the contents of the car was within the scope of the consent granted to the police. Therefore, unlike the search of the stereo equipment in Hicks, the search of the clothing found in Smith's car was not a separate unlawful search. Anticipating our ruling, defendant argues in the alternative that the search was invalid because the police obtained Smith's consent as a result of misconduct, consisting of removing defendant from the scene prior to the search and then failing to request defendant's permission to search his clothing. Defendant's argument is unpersuasive. The consent of one person with common or superior authority over the area to be searched is all that is required; the consent of other interested parties is unnecessary. (E.g., Matlock, supra, 415 U.S. at pp. 171, 177 [39 L.Ed.2d at pp. 249-250, 253] [roommate's consent, obtained after defendant arrested and removed from the scene, sufficient]; People v. Haskett (1982) 30 Cal.3d 841, 855-857 [180 Cal. Rptr. 640, 640 P.2d 776] [wife's consent, obtained after husband arrested and removed from the premises, sufficient].)