Opinion ID: 486544
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Warrantless Footlocker Search

Text: 30 Since one forfeits any reasonable expectation of privacy upon abandoning one's property, a warrantless search or seizure of abandoned property does not violate the fourth amendment. E.g., Abel v. United States, 362 U.S. 217, 240-41, 80 S.Ct. 683, 697-98, 4 L.Ed.2d 668 (1960); United States v. Wilson, 472 F.2d 901, 902 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 868, 94 S.Ct. 176, 38 L.Ed.2d 116 (1973). Abandonment is a question of fact, to be decided in objective terms on the basis of all the relevant facts and circumstances, see, e.g., United States v. Sledge, 650 F.2d 1075, 1077 (9th Cir.1981); United States v. Wyler, 502 F.Supp. 959, 967 (S.D.N.Y.1980), and not on the basis of leasehold interests or other property rights. Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 265-67, 80 S.Ct. 725, 733-34, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960); United States v. Cella, 568 F.2d 1266, 1283 (9th Cir.1978); United States v. Edwards, 441 F.2d 749, 753 (5th Cir.1971). 31 The facts and circumstances pertinent to the court's abandonment inquiry are not limited to those which were known to the officers at the time of the search or seizure. Rather, subsequently discovered events may support an inference that appellants had already chosen, and manifested their decision, not to return to the property. E.g., United States v. Callabrass, 607 F.2d 559, 566 (2d Cir.1979) (Oakes, J., dissenting); Parman v. United States, 399 F.2d 559, 565 (D.C.Cir.1968) (Burger, J.). 32 In this case, the district court properly identified and weighed the relevant facts and circumstances in finding abandonment. Among the facts supporting this conclusion are the UFF members' history of living underground and fleeing suddenly as the FBI drew near, plus the Mannings' awareness that the FBI had just surrounded the Cleveland house and arrested their colleagues there. As the district court properly noted, the Mannings' failure to take their weapons, clothing, and personal belongings with them to Virginia does not necessarily indicate that they had intentions of returning to the Jefferson house. Instead, coupled with all the other signs of abandonment, it suggests that they learned of the Cleveland arrests while outside their home, and logically decided that it would be too risky to return to the Jefferson house just to pack. See 620 F.Supp. at 630 & n. 1. 33 Finally, the district court's finding of abandonment is solidly buttressed by the April 1985 discovery of evidence that the Mannings had settled in Norfolk within days of the Ohio arrests. This evidence includes the November 5, 1984 clipping from a locally distributed Winchester, Virginia newspaper, receipts for purchases of household appliances, and the lease and other documents confirming that the Mannings had moved into their Norfolk house by mid-November. 34 In view of the overwhelming evidence, we affirm the district court's conclusion that the Mannings had forfeited their reasonable expectation of privacy by abandoning their Jefferson house prior to the warrantless search of the footlocker. Because we affirm the denial of the motion to suppress on this ground, we need not reach the district court's alternative holding that this evidence was admissible under the inevitable discovery exception to the exclusionary rule, set forth in Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431, 104 S.Ct. 2501, 81 L.Ed.2d 377 (1984).