Opinion ID: 560367
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Discovery and Seizure of the Marijuana.

Text: 10 The critical issue in reviewing a challenge to a search and seizure is whether a defendant had a reasonable or legitimate expectation of privacy in the invaded place. See California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207, 211, 106 S.Ct. 1809, 1811, 90 L.Ed.2d 210 (1986); Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 143, 99 S.Ct. 421, 430, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978). The Supreme Court has established a two-part test by which we may determine whether such an expectation exists. First, we must ask whether the defendant has exhibited a subjective expectation of privacy, and second, we must determine whether society is prepared to recognize this subjective expectation as reasonable or legitimate. See Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 525 & n. 7, 104 S.Ct. 3194, 3199 & n. 7, 82 L.Ed.2d 393 (1984) (citing Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 360, 361, 88 S.Ct. 507, 516, 517, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967) (Harlan, J., concurring)). 11 The facts presented to the district court demonstrated that the defendant exhibited a subjective expectation of privacy by concealing the marijuana in the shell of a washing machine that was buried beneath the ground. We must, therefore, proceed to the next inquiry: whether such an expectation was reasonable given the facts of the case. 12 In pursuing this inquiry, we must keep in mind that [t]he test of legitimacy is not whether the individual chooses to conceal assertedly 'private' activity, but instead whether the government's intrusion infringes upon the personal and societal values protected by the Fourth Amendment. 13 Ciraolo, 476 U.S. at 212, 106 S.Ct. at 1812 (quoting Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170, 181-83, 104 S.Ct. 1735, 1742-44, 80 L.Ed.2d 214 (1984)). Factors that we have found to be relevant in this fourth amendment analysis include whether the defendant had a possessory interest in the area searched (in this case, the wooded area behind Hamilton's house), whether the defendant had a right to exclude others from that area, whether he had exhibited a subjective expectation that it would remain free from governmental invasion, whether he took normal precautions to maintain his privacy, and whether he was legitimately on the premises. See United States v. Briones-Garza, 680 F.2d 417, 420 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 916, 103 S.Ct. 229, 74 L.Ed.2d 181 (1982); United States v. Haydel, 649 F.2d 1152, 1155, modified, 664 F.2d 84 (5th Cir. Unit A 1981). As the proponent of a motion to suppress, Hamilton bore the burden of establishing that his own fourth amendment rights were violated by the challenged search or seizure. See Rakas, 439 U.S. at 131 n. 1, 99 S.Ct. at 424 n. 1; United States v. Salvucci, 448 U.S. 83, 86, 100 S.Ct. 2547, 2550, 65 L.Ed.2d 619 (1980); Rawlings v. Com. of Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 105, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 2561, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980). Hamilton has failed to meet this burden. 14 Hamilton produced no evidence to suggest that he held any interest in the property on which the washing machine was buried. In fact, all the evidence points to the contrary. The area was located behind the property on which Hamilton's home stood, and it was set apart from Hamilton's yard by a fence. In addition, Sergeant McVey testified that he believed that the property belonged to Hamilton's grandmother. See Record on Appeal, Vol. 2, at 104, 169. Hamilton avoided addressing this issue head-on, and instead argued that ownership of the wooded area was irrelevant and that ownership of the washing machine was sufficient to establish the existence of a fourth amendment violation. See Appellant's Brief at 25 n. 2. The Supreme Court has held otherwise. See Salvucci, 448 U.S. at 92, 100 S.Ct. at 2553 (We simply decline to use possession of a seized good as a substitute for a factual finding that the owner of the good had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the area searched.). Hamilton also failed to show that he had any power to exclude others from the wooded area where the machine was buried. There is likewise no evidence in the record to suggest that he harbored an expectation that the property would remain free from governmental invasion. The record also fails to reflect that Hamilton took any steps to block off the wooded area from members of the public who wished to enter the area. Finally, Hamilton produced no evidence which would demonstrate that he was legitimately on the premises. 15 The facts of this case are not unlike those in United States v. Brown, 473 F.2d 952, 953 (5th Cir.1973). In Brown, law enforcement officials conducted a warrantless search of an abandoned farm while investigating a bank robbery. Acting on information that had been provided to them, the law enforcement officials began digging at a particular spot on the property. About two or three inches below the surface, the officials struck a piece of board that had been covering a suitcase wrapped in plastic garbage bags. The suitcase contained bait money from the bank robbery as well as a notebook which bore the defendant's fingerprints. The defendant did not assert any interest in the farm but moved to suppress the evidence based on his ownership interest in the suitcase alone. In that case, we held that the defendant's act of burying the suitcase in an open field was tantamount to abandonment and found that the officers were justified in opening it without first obtaining a warrant. See id. at 954. See also State v. Crane, 296 S.C. 336, 372 S.E.2d 587 (1988) (holding that a defendant failed to demonstrate a reasonable expectation of privacy by filling barrels with marijuana and placing them in a ditch located in a wooded area behind his home). 16 Like the defendant in Brown, we find that Hamilton's expectation of privacy was unreasonable. He failed to show that he had legitimate control over the wooded area where the machine was buried, and he was not in the immediate possession of the machine when it was discovered by law enforcement officers. Under these circumstances, we cannot find that the district court erred in refusing to suppress the marijuana found inside the machine. 17