Opinion ID: 1444405
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Taylor's standing to assert a Fourth Amendment violation.

Text: The state failed to raise the issue of standing before the district court. Generally, failure to raise an issue below bars consideration on appeal. See Emmons v. State, 107 Nev. 53, 61, 807 P.2d 718, 723 (1991). However, this court will address constitutional issues raised for the first time on appeal. See McCullough v. State, 99 Nev. 72, 74, 657 P.2d 1157, 1158 (1983). The state contends that Taylor has no standing to object to the police's search of his suitcase because he had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of the suitcase. Specifically, the state asserts that Taylor effectively abandoned his suitcase when he relinquished exclusive control of it to Gillis and disclaimed ownership of it by denying that he knew her. In order to assert a violation under the Fourth Amendment, one must have a subjective and objective expectation of privacy in the place searched or items seized. See Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 361, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967) (Harlan, J., concurring). A person who voluntarily abandons his property has no standing to object to its search or seizure because he loses a legitimate expectation of privacy in the property and thereby disclaims any concern about whether the property or its contents remain private. United States v. Veatch, 674 F.2d 1217, 1220 (9th Cir.1981). Whether a person has abandoned his property is a question of intent, which we infer from words, acts, and other objective facts. See United States v. Jackson, 544 F.2d 407, 409 (9th Cir.1976). Abandonment here is not meant in the strict property-right sense, but rests instead on whether the person so relinquished his interest in the property that he no longer retained a reasonable expectation of privacy in it at the time of the search. Id. We conclude Taylor did not abandon his suitcase. An individual does not abandon property upon a mere failure to openly exercise control over it prior to its search or where access and control over the property is shared with a third party. See United States v. Canada, 527 F.2d 1374, 1378 (9th Cir.1975). Further, a disclaimer of ownership of the subject property must be express for standing purposes. See United States v. Sanders, 130 F.3d 1316, 1317 (8th Cir.1997); Veatch, 674 F.2d at 1221. Taylor's denial that he knew Gillis does not constitute an express disclaimer of ownership. Accordingly, Taylor has standing to challenge the search.