Opinion ID: 772296
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standing to Challenge the Police Entry into the Hotel Room

Text: 17 The district court held that Defendants lacked standing to challenge as a search the police entry into the hotel room because neither had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the room. The court reasoned that (1) Gomes had no privacy interest in the room because she had checked out of the hotel before the search took place, and (2) Dorais' privacy interest expired at checkout time, which was noon on July 8, 1998, also before the entry. The court's reasoning and conclusion are correct with respect to Gomes. United States v. Haddad, 558 F.2d 968 (9th Cir. 1977) (holding that a guest has no expectation of privacy in a hotel room after checking out, whether voluntarily or involuntarily). As to Dorais, we affirm on different grounds the ruling that Dorais had no reasonable expectation of privacy in room 421 at 12:40 p.m.
18 In order to have standing to challenge the search of a hotel room under the Fourth Amendment, a defendant must establish a reasonable expectation of privacy in the room. Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91, 95 (1990).A subjective expectation of privacy is legitimate if it is one that society is prepared to recognize as `reasonable'. Id . at 95-96 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). 19 This court has held that a defendant has no reasonable expectation of privacy in a hotel room when the rental period has expired and the hotel has taken affirmative steps to repossess the room. United States v. Huffhines, 967 F.2d 314 (9th Cir. 1992). On the other hand, this court has concluded that the lessee of a rental car maintains a reasonable expectation of privacy in the car after the expiration of the lease, when the rental agency has taken no affirmative steps to repossess the car and when it has a policy of permitting lessees to keep cars and simply charging them for the extra time. Henderson, 2000 WL 1804068, at -. Other courts that have considered the issue have recognized that a guest may retain a reasonable expectation of privacy in a hotel room after checkout time based on the relationship between the guest and the hotel or based on the hotel's generally lax practices in enforcing its checkout time. See, e.g., United States v. Kitchens, 114 F.3d 29, 31-32 & 32 n.3 (4th Cir. 1997); United States v. Owens, 782 F.2d 146, 149-50 (10th Cir. 1986). 20 In Huffhines, we stated that [a] guest in a motel has no reasonable expectation of privacy in a room after the rental period has expired. 967 F.2d at 318. We held that the defendant lacked standing to challenge a search of his hotel room when the rental period expired at noon, the motel manager repossessed the room in the afternoon, and the manager consented to a search of the room in the evening. Id. Similarly, in Haddad, we held that the defendant lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy in a hotel room after the hotel ejected him from the room and required him to check out. 558 F.2d at 975. 21 We have recognized, however, that the mere expiration of the rental period, in the absence of affirmative acts of repossession by the lessor, does not automatically end a lessee's expectations of privacy. In Henderson, we concluded that a defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in a rental car that was four days overdue. 2000 WL 1804068, at -. We reasoned that the rental company had not attempted to repossess the car, that it was not unusual for a customer to keep a car past the time specified in the rental agreement, and that the company had a routine practice of simply charging the customer for the late return. Id. In Henderson, we distinguished Huffhines and Haddad on the ground that, in those cases, the hotel management had terminated the defendants' control of their hotel rooms through private acts of dominion. Id. at . 22 Similarly, in Owens, the Tenth Circuit held that a motel guest had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his room after checkout time. 782 F.2d at 149-51. There, the police arrested one occupant of the room (the defendant), and, afterward, contacted the front desk to inform the motel of the arrest and to check on the status of the room. Id. at 148-49. The motel manager informed the police that the rental period on the room had expired, and the manager authorized the police to evict the remaining occupant. Id. at 148. The court based its conclusion that the defendant's expectation of privacy in the motel room was reasonable on three factors. First, a few days earlier, when the defendant had stayed past checkout time, instead of evicting him the hotel permitted him to extend his stay and pay for the additional term of occupancy. Id. at 150. Second, the manager testified that it was the motel's policy to ask those guests staying past checkout time whether they would be leaving or extending their stay; it was not the motel's policy to evict guests who were staying past checkout time for brief periods. Third, the defendant had given a large cash deposit, which may have led him to believe that he was paid up through the rest of the week. Id. 23 By contrast, in Kitchens, the Fourth Circuit concluded that the defendants lacked standing to challenge a search of their hotel room an hour after checkout time. 114 F.3d at 32. The court recognized that [a] guest may still have a legitimate expectation of privacy even after his rental period has terminated, if there is a pattern or practice which would make that expectation reasonable. Id. It further acknowledged that a warrantless search immediately after checkout time would be improper if the hotel, as most hotels do, had a pattern or practice of allowing guests some leeway regarding the checkout time. Id. at 32 n.3. However, the court found that the defendants did not have a pattern or practice of staying past checkout time and that the hotel had a strict policy of enforcing checkout times. Id. As a result, the defendants' reasonable expectation of privacy in the room expired at checkout time. 24 Under Huffhines, as a general rule a defendant's expectation of privacy in a hotel room expires at checkout time. However, consistent with Henderson, we hold that the policies and practices of a hotel may result in the extension past checkout time of a defendant's reasonable expectation of privacy. The existence and duration of that expectation depend on the facts and circumstances in each case.
25 In this case, the district court found that Gomes had checked out of the hotel before noon on July 8. That finding is not clearly erroneous. Thus, under Haddad, she lacks standing to challenge the entry into the hotel room. 26 As to Dorais, the answer is the same, but the explanation more complex. Having concluded that a hotel guest's expectation of privacy does not expire automatically at checkout time, we examine the record to determine whether Dorais presented sufficient evidence to meet his burden of proving that he held a reasonable expectation of privacy in room 421 at the time of the search. See United States v. Singleton, 987 F.2d 1444, 1447 (9th Cir. 1993) (holding that a defendant bears the burden of proving a legitimate expectation of privacy). On the record before us, Dorais has not met his burden. 27 Dorais demonstrated that his reasonable expectation of privacy in room 421 extended past noon; but that reasonable expectation expired at 12:30 p.m. 28 First, the hotel communicated the noon checkout time to Dorais. The noon checkout time was clearly posted in the room, and the hotel, following its standard checkout procedure, reminded Dorais at 10 a.m. of the noon checkout time. 29 Second, Dorais proved that the hotel did not enforce its checkout time strictly. Manaba testified that it was not normal hotel policy to issue trespass notices to overstaying guests immediately at noon but, rather, that the standard practice was to ask guests at noon when they would be leaving. Additionally, the executive housekeeper testified that it was hotel practice for the housekeeping staff to ask guests when they would be leaving. 30 Third, however, we concluded for four reasons that these practices extended Dorais' expectation of privacy in room 421 only until 12:30. (a) The housekeeper testified that the reason why the housekeeping staff did not tell guests to leave immediately at noon was that thirty minutes is . . . not that much difference. Her testimony suggests that, although the New Otani permits guests some leeway with respect to checkout time, the leeway time is limited. (b) The district court found, and the record supports the finding, 4 that Dorais stated only that he planned to remain in the room until 12:30. (c) Gomes had left the room already. (d) The hotel's 10 a.m. reminder of the checkout time, and the housekeeper's noon visit, put Dorais on notice that any extension past noon would be of limited duration. Those factors establish that Dorais' expectation of privacy was reasonable only until 12:30. Therefore, we affirm the district court's ruling that Dorais lacked standing to challenge the police entry, which occurred at 12:40.