Opinion ID: 2065107
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Seizure of the Lobsters

Text: A common contention of both defendants is that Warden Nisbet's actions violated their fourth amendment rights in that the defendants were in a protected place and the warden had no probable cause for his warrantless search. To invoke the protection of the warrant requirement, it must be demonstrated that a search in fact took place. Here, the defendants were observed walking on a beach and were accosted in a large parking lot. The warden, who apparently had as much right to be in the parking lot as the defendants, merely observed that which was completely open to public view, and his observations, guided by more than twelve years' experience, alerted him to the fact that the defendants were in obvious possession of contraband. Accordingly, we find that the defendants have failed to demonstrate that a search, within the meaning of the fourth amendment, took place. The case is a textbook example of the open fields doctrine first announced by Justice Holmes fifty-four years ago in Hester v. United States, 265 U.S. 57, 44 S.Ct. 445, 68 L.Ed. 898 (1924). Hester simply held that the protection accorded by the Fourth Amendment . . . is not extended to the open fields. Id. at 59, 44 S.Ct. at 446, 68 L.Ed. at 900. Open, obvious, and notorious criminal activity conducted in a public place has never been accorded constitutional protection under the fourth amendment. As we held in State v. MacKenzie, 161 Me. 123, 137, 210 A.2d 24, 32 (1965), [a] search implies some exploratory investigation. It is not a search to observe that which is open and patent . . ., quoting State v. Griffin, 84 N.J.Super. 508, 517, 202 A.2d 856, 861 (1964). We applied the same rationale in the companion cases of State v. Poulin, Me., 277 A.2d 493, 495 (1971), and State v. Mosher, Me., 270 A.2d 451, 452-53 (1970). In a case also entitled State v. Poulin, Me., 268 A.2d 475, 480 (1970), we held that no search had occurred where a police officer observed a 250-pound safe lying in the open trunk of an automobile. We invoked the open fields rationale again in State v. Stone, Me., 294 A.2d 683, 688-89 (1972), and found no fourth amendment implications where a police officer, using a flashlight, observed an apparently loaded carbine lying on the back seat of an automobile. See also State v. Cowperthwaite, Me., 354 A.2d 173, 176 (1976); State v. Lafferty, Me., 309 A.2d 647, 654 (1973). The defendants argue that Hester 's force has been limited by United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 97 S.Ct. 2476, 53 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977), and Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967), which have expanded the fourth amendment's protection to areas outside of the dwelling. To the contrary, we find that the Hester doctrine remains entirely intact. G. M. Leasing Corp. v. United States, 429 U.S. 338, 97 S.Ct. 619, 50 L.Ed.2d 530 (1977); United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38, 96 S.Ct. 2406, 49 L.Ed.2d 300 (1976); Air Pollution Variance Board v. Western Alfalfa Corp., 416 U.S. 861, 94 S.Ct. 2114, 40 L.Ed.2d 607 (1974); Harris v. United States, 390 U.S. 234, 88 S.Ct. 992, 19 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1968); United States v. Johnson, 182 U.S. App.D.C. 383, 397, 561 F.2d 832, 846, cert. denied, 432 U.S. 907, 97 S.Ct. 2953, 53 L.Ed.2d 1080 (1977) (Leventhal, J., concurring). Indeed, Justice Stewart, writing for the Katz Court, flatly stated that [w]hat a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection. Katz, supra 389 U.S. at 351, 88 S.Ct. at 511, 19 L.Ed.2d at 582. In State v. Stone, supra , we recognized a long line of authority to the effect that an owner can be held to have exposed property to public view notwithstanding that artificial illumination, specifically directed, might be required to render the property visible. Id. at 688-89. It is also clear, contrary to their contentions, that the defendants were not in a constitutionally protected place where they held a reasonable and justifiable expectation of privacy. Open beaches and large parking lots to which the public has access simply do not afford privacy. [5]