Opinion ID: 4531433
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Application to Case

Text: At the outset, we reject Yang’s argument that the abovementioned cases are inapposite because they regard an expectation of privacy in property or premises rather than an expectation of privacy on the whole of one’s movements that is at issue in this case. We are simply unwilling to conclude that a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his UNITED STATES V. YANG 21 movements as revealed by the historical location data of a rental vehicle after failing to return the vehicle by the contract due date, when there is no policy or practice of the rental company “permitting lessees to keep cars and simply charging them for the extra time.” See Dorias, 241 F.3d at 1128 (citing Henderson, 241 F.3d at 647). In this case, the rental contract provided that vehicles not returned by the due date will be reported as stolen to the proper authorities. Yang contends that Prestige Motors’ decision not to immediately file a stolen vehicle report after the rental contract expired is evidence that the company does not strictly follow this policy. However, unlike in the cases discussed above, Yang presented no evidence at the suppression hearing of any other custom or practice by Prestige that led him to believe that rather than adhering to the rental contract terms and reporting the vehicle as stolen, Prestige would, absent any request by him, simply extend the lease term and charge him the additional fees. While the rental agreement provided that “[a] charge of $20.00 per day will be applied to the rental for every day the vehicle is late,” the contract also provided that “[i]f a customer wishes to extend, he or she must notify the company 1 day in advance to make arrangements and additional payments.” There is no evidence in the record to suggest that Yang notified Prestige of any intent on his part to extend the rental period. In addition, the rental contract warned lessees that Prestige may repossess a vehicle if not returned by the contract due date and that a $250.00 repossession fee will apply. And in case there were any lingering doubts about whether Yang had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the location of the Yukon at the time Inspector Steele searched the LEARN database on April 13, 2006, we conclude that Prestige’s private attempts to repossess the Yukon by 22 UNITED STATES V. YANG activating the GPS and disabling the vehicle placed Yang, the sole authorized driver, on notice that Prestige did not intend to extend the lease term, but rather sought to repossess the vehicle. At oral argument, Yang also argued that he had standing to object to the query of the LEARN database because it revealed his location on April 5, 2016, at approximately 11:24 p.m., at which time, he alleges, he still had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his movements. Given the rental agreement provided that vehicles not returned by the “due date” would be reported as stolen, Yang contends that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his movements, as revealed by the location data of the Yukon until 11:59 p.m. on April 5th even though the vehicle was due back by 10:48 a.m. that day. Because the ALPR camera captured the Yukon’s location information well after the close of Prestige’s business hours, as clearly advertised on the rental agreement, we need not determine whether a defendant has standing to object to a “search” of a rental vehicle’s historical location information that was captured and uploaded to a database prior to the expiration of the rental agreement. AFFIRMED.