Opinion ID: 543785
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Suppression of Evidence from California Apartment

Text: 16 Ramirez challenges the district court's refusal to suppress evidence found in the California apartment. The district court denied Ramirez' pretrial motion to suppress the evidence. Normally the denial of a pretrial motion to suppress evidence preserves the objection for appeal and defense counsel need not renew the objection at trial. Here, however, Ramirez' counsel stated no objection when the evidence was offered at trial. Accordingly, we could find that Ramirez waived his previous objection. United States v. Wedelstedt, 589 F.2d 339, 345 (8th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 916, 99 S.Ct. 2836, 61 L.Ed.2d 283 (1979). 17 Whether or not Ramirez waived his right to appeal the admission of the evidence, his objections to the validity of the search are without merit. During his trial testimony Ramirez disclaimed any interest in the California apartment, thus negating any claim of legitimate expectation of privacy that is a prerequisite to a challenge to a search and seizure. See Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 104-06, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 2561-62, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980). Passing that shortcoming in his challenge to the search and assuming that Ramirez had a legitimate privacy interest in the apartment, government officials nevertheless obtained the valid consent of a third party who possessed a common authority over the premises, as evidenced by Paz-Uribe's mutual use and joint access to the apartment. United States v. Bradley, 869 F.2d 417, 419 (8th Cir.1989). The government permissibly carried its burden of establishing the third party's consent with hearsay testimony. United States v. Boyce, 797 F.2d 691, 693 (8th Cir.1986). Although Ramirez claims that the evidence should have been suppressed because the government failed to maintain Paz-Uribe's availability as a witness, he cites no authority to support this proposition. Neither has Ramirez shown that the government's failure to maintain a current address for Paz-Uribe constituted a failure to preserve evidence that resulted in a violation of Ramirez' constitutional rights. United States v. Johnson, 767 F.2d 1259, 1272 (8th Cir.1985) (listing elements for considering whether the government's failure to preserve evidence is a constitutional violation). Accordingly, the district court did not err in admitting the evidence.