Opinion ID: 2358021
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Abandonment and the Fourth Amendment

Text: We start again with the basic concern of the Fourth Amendment  to protect the privacy and sanctity of one's property against arbitrary intrusion by governmental officials. However, [w]ithout question, abandoned property does not fall within that category in which one has a legitimate expectation of privacy to bring it within the protection of the Fourth Amendment.... Everhart v. State, 274 Md. 459, 483, 337 A.2d 100 (1975). See Hester v. United States, 265 U.S. 57, 58, 44 S.Ct. 445 (1924). It is the expectation of privacy which is at the heart of the test for abandonment. `The proper test for abandonment is not whether all formal property rights have been relinquished, but whether the complaining party retains a reasonable expectation of privacy in the articles alleged to be abandoned.' Venner v. State, 279 Md. 47, 53, 367 A.2d 949 (1977), quoting United States v. Wilson, 472 F.2d 901 (9th Cir.1972), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 868 (1973). So, one who abandons property thereby surrenders any expectation of privacy therein, removes himself from the protection of the Fourth Amendment, and cannot complain with effect of the later seizure of such property by the police, or of its use against him in court. Henderson v. Warden, 237 Md. 519, 523, 206 A.2d 793 (1965); Matthews v. State, 237 Md. 384, 387-388, 206 A.2d 714 (1965). [W]hether property is abandoned is generally a question of fact based upon evidence of a combination of act and intent. Everhart v. State, supra, 274 Md. at 483. There can be no doubt that the abandonment doctrine applies to automobiles. One may abandon or discard an automobile in his possession to avoid arrest or detection as he may rid himself of other incriminating articles. People v. Smith, 409 P.2d 222, 237 (Cal. Sup. Ct. 1966), cert. denied, 388 U.S. 913 (1967), analogizing circumstances in Abel v. United States, 362 U.S. 217, 80 S.Ct. 683 (1960), in which evidence seized from a wastebasket in a rented room after the petitioner had vacated the room was found to have been abandoned, with the abandonment of a rented automobile. See Hawley v. Commonwealth, 144 S.E.2d 314, 317 (Va. Sup. Ct. App. 1965), cert. denied, 383 U.S. 910 (1966). Many of the cases in which the courts have dealt with the abandonment of an automobile concern flight from the vehicle on sighting the police, particularly where the occupant deserts the automobile while under hot pursuit. See, for example, United States v. Moody, 485 F.2d 531, (3rd Cir.1973); United States v. Edwards, 441 F.2d 749 (5th Cir.1971); Wade v. Warden, 278 F. Supp. 904 (D. Md. 1968); Jefferson v. State, 220 S.E.2d 71 (Ga. Ct. App. 1975); Whitlock v. State, 185 S.E.2d 90 (Ga. Ct. App. 1971); People v. Harper, 185 N.E.2d 865 (Ill. Sup. Ct. 1962), cert. denied, 372 U.S. 966 (1963); State v. Barr, 126 Vt. 112, 223 A.2d 462 (1966). In other cases, in which sudden flight was not a circumstance, courts have found abandonment by looking to such factors as the condition of the vehicle, its location, and the length of time it has remained there. United States v. Calhoun, 510 F.2d 861 (7th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 950 (1975); McIntosh v. United States, 341 F.2d 448 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 381 U.S. 947 (1965); United States v. Angel, 201 F.2d 531 (7th Cir.1953); Croker v. State, 150 S.E.2d 294 (Ga. Ct. App. 1966); Hawley v. Commonwealth, supra , all finding abandonment. Compare People v. James, 46 Misc.2d 138, 259 N.Y.S.2d 241 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1965), holding that the mere presence of an automobile at a specified location for two days did not constitute abandonment. The abandonment doctrine is not without limitations. It does not apply when the abandonment was the result of an unlawful police action. Beale v. State, 230 Md. 182, 186 A.2d 213 (1962). See Hobson v. United States, 226 F.2d 890 (8th Cir.1955); Glover v. State, 14 Md. App. 454, 287 A.2d 333 (1972), cert. denied, 265 Md. 737 (1972). [7] Because Fourth Amendment concerns are not applicable when an automobile is in fact abandoned, it may be seized by the police without a warrant and examined with no limitations on the scope, intensity, or objectives of the examination. It and its contents may be retained for use as evidence otherwise admissible against the one who abandoned it. [8]