Opinion ID: 419209
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admissibility of the Cocaine

Text: 8 Because forfeiture proceedings are quasi-criminal in character and meant to penalize the commission of an offense against the law, the exclusionary rule applies to such proceedings, barring evidence obtained in violation of the fourth amendment. One 1958 Plymouth Sedan v. Pennsylvania, 380 U.S. 693, 696, 700, 85 S.Ct. 1246, 1250, 14 L.Ed.2d 170 (1965). The Court has made clear, however, that suppression of the product of a fourth amendment violation may be urged only by one whose rights were violated by the search, not by one who is aggrieved by the introduction of damaging evidence gathered as a consequence of the violation of the rights of another. Alderman v. United States, 394 U.S. 165, 171-75, 89 S.Ct. 961, 965-967, 22 L.Ed.2d 176 (1969). Because we find that Webb's rights were not violated by the seizure of the cocaine, we hold that Webb may not assert any illegality in the search of the automobile as a basis for suppressing the cocaine in this action. 3 9 The proper test to be applied in determining whether Webb's rights were violated by the search of the automobile and the seizure of the cocaine is whether, by that act, Webb suffered an invasion of a legitimate expectation of privacy. Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 148-49, 99 S.Ct. 421, 433, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978); United States v. Portillo, 633 F.2d 1313, 1316 (9th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 1043, 101 S.Ct. 1764, 68 L.Ed.2d 241 (1981). That determination is made on the basis of federal law, despite the part played by state officers in the seizure of the cocaine. Portillo, 633 F.2d at 1317. Further, the burden rests on Webb, as proponent of the motion to suppress, to establish that her fourth amendment rights were violated by the seizure of the cocaine. Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 104, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 2561, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980); Rakas, 439 U.S. at 130-31 n. 1, 99 S.Ct. at 424 n. 1. 10 Whether the owner may protest a search of a vehicle under the circumstances of this case is a matter of first impression in the Ninth Circuit. The Supreme Court, however, has enunciated several general principles which aid in resolution of this issue. 11 Automobiles have traditionally been treated differently from residence in the law governing search and seizure. See Rakas, 439 U.S. at 148, 99 S.Ct. at 433. The Court has commented many times on the fact that automobiles by their very nature are surrounded by a diminished expectation of privacy. 12 One has a lesser expectation of privacy in a motor vehicle because its function is transportation and it seldom serves as one's residence or as the repository of personal effects. A car has little capacity for escaping public scrutiny. It travels public thoroughfares where both its occupants and its contents are in plain view. 13 Cardwell v. Lewis, 417 U.S. 583, 590, 94 S.Ct. 2464, 2469, 41 L.Ed.2d 325 (1974) (plurality opinion) (citation omitted); see also United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 12-13, 97 S.Ct. 2476, 2484-2485, 53 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977). Further, as a result of the extensive regulation of motor vehicles, drivers and traffic, automobiles frequently come into contact with police officers in both criminal and non-criminal contexts. These factors result in an expansion of the intrusions police officers may justifiably make without invading individual privacy with regard to automobiles. See South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364, 368-71, 96 S.Ct. 3092, 3096-3098, 49 L.Ed.2d 1000 (1976); Cady v. Dombrowski, 413 U.S. 433, 440-41, 93 S.Ct. 2523, 2527-2528, 37 L.Ed.2d 706 (1973). But see Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979); United States v. Munoz, 701 F.2d 1293 (9th Cir.1983). 14 In the present case, Webb may assert only ownership as a basis for a legitimate expectation of privacy in the automobile. Although property ownership is clearly a factor to be considered in determining whether an individual's Fourth Amendment rights have been violated, United States v. Salvucci, 448 U.S. 83, 91, 100 S.Ct. 2547, 2553, 65 L.Ed.2d 619 (1980); United States v. Perez, 689 F.2d 1336, 1338 (9th Cir.1982) (per curiam), the Supreme Court has made clearer still that ownership alone is not determinative. See Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 105, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 2561, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980); Mancusi v. DeForte, 392 U.S. 364, 368, 88 S.Ct. 2120, 2123, 20 L.Ed.2d 1154 (1968); Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 353, 88 S.Ct. 507, 512, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967). The Court in Rakas recognized that expectations of privacy may be legitimized by reference to concepts of real or personal property law or to understandings that are recognized and permitted by society, each having varying strength depending upon the circumstances of each case. Rakas, 439 U.S. at 143-44 n. 12, 99 S.Ct. at 430-431 n. 12. For example, the right to exclude others may give rise to a legitimate expectation of privacy and may or may not stem from property interests. See id.; Perez, 689 F.2d at 1338. Clearly, any precautions taken to exclude others or otherwise maintain a privacy interest will heighten the legitimate expectation of privacy in the protected area. See Rawlings, 448 U.S. at 105, 100 S.Ct. at 2561; Chadwick, 433 U.S. at 11, 97 S.Ct. at 2483; Perez, 689 F.2d at 1338. 15 Based on these principles, two circuits have held that the owner of a vehicle could not protest the search of the vehicle conducted while it was lent to a third party. In United States v. Dall, 608 F.2d 910 (1st Cir.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 918, 100 S.Ct. 1280, 63 L.Ed.2d 603 (1980), the court held ownership alone insufficient to establish an expectation of privacy. The owner of a pickup truck had lent the truck to some friends. A locked camper on the truck bed contained stolen property that was seized in a warrantless search. The owner could not challenge the search when he disclaimed any knowledge of the contents and did not allege that he locked the camper. The court held that when the owner gave possession to another for the other's uses to the temporary exclusion of the owner, he extinguished the already diminished expectation of privacy attached to automobiles. 608 F.2d at 915. In this case we need not go as far as Dall since no locked portions of the vehicle are involved. 16 Similarly, in United States v. Dyar, 574 F.2d 1385 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 982, 99 S.Ct. 570, 58 L.Ed.2d 653 (1978), the Fifth Circuit held that defendants who asserted a leasehold interest in an airplane sufficient to create a traditional property right abandoned any expectation of privacy when they gave possession of the plane to a pilot. 574 F.2d at 1390; see also United States v. Nunn, 525 F.2d 958 (5th Cir.1976); United States v. McConnell, 500 F.2d 347 (5th Cir.1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 946, 95 S.Ct. 1327, 43 L.Ed.2d 424 (1975). 17 In the present case, Webb voluntarily turned her automobile over to Reese for his exclusive use. She took no precautions to safeguard any privacy interest she may have had in the automobile. Further, for the purpose of seizing a package arguably in plain view, the officer intruded only into the open passenger area of the automobile, an area where Reese could have invited any stranger. Under these circumstances, we hold that Webb relinquished her expectation of privacy when she lent her automobile to Reese. 4 She may not now contest the legality of the seizure of the cocaine from the open passenger area of her automobile while it was in Reese's possession.