Opinion ID: 386047
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Standing to Assert Fourth Amendment Rights

Text: 15 The question of Richards' standing to contest the search was not raised in the court below. On appeal the government argued proleptically that the Supreme Court decision in Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978), foretold the coming demise of the concept of automatic standing for possessory crimes. In United States v. Salvucci, --- U.S. ----, 100 S.Ct. 2547, 65 L.Ed.2d 619 (1980), the Court followed the intimations of Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. at 135 n.4, 99 S.Ct. at 426 n.4, 58 L.Ed.2d at 396 n.4, and Brown v. United States, 411 U.S. 223, 229, 93 S.Ct. 1565, 1568-69, 36 L.Ed.2d 208, 214 (1973), and held that automatic standing does not justify the assertion of fourth amendment protection. 16 Fourth amendment protection is accorded only to a person who has a privacy interest in the area searched, Rawlings v. Kentucky, --- U.S. ----, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980), Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978), a rubric adopted from a phrase used in Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 353, 88 S.Ct. 507, 512, 19 L.Ed.2d 576, 583 (1967). Instead of conducting a separate inquiry into standing, we now focus directly on whether the defendant possesses a legitimate expectation of privacy in the area searched. Rawlings v. Kentucky, --- U.S. ----, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980); Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978). 17 The package was sealed and addressed to Mehling, which, in effect, was Richards. These facts alone indicate an expectation that the contents would remain free from public examination. United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 11, 97 S.Ct. 2476, 2483, 53 L.Ed.2d 538, 548 (1977). See generally Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. at 352, 88 S.Ct. at 511-12, 19 L.Ed.2d at 582. Moreover, sealed mail historically has been considered to have a high degree of privacy, and government intrusion into mailed parcels is limited by the fourth amendment. See United States v. Van Leeuwen, 397 U.S. 249, 90 S.Ct. 1029, 25 L.Ed.2d 282 (1970); Ex parte Jackson, 96 U.S. 727, 24 L.Ed. 877 (1878). 18 Although the Supreme Court has rejected the importation into search and seizure law of arcane distinctions evolved in property law, Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. at 149-50 n.17, 99 S.Ct. at 434, n.17, 58 L.Ed.2d at 405 n.17, we note that Richards was in lawful possession of the package when it was seized. Cf. Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. at 153, 99 S.Ct. at 435, 58 L.Ed.2d at 407 (Powell, J., concurring) (property rights reflect society's explicit recognition of a person's authority to act as he wishes in certain areas, and therefore should be considered in determining whether an individual's expectations of privacy are reasonable). It is, therefore, not dispositive that Richards denied ownership of the package. Considering all the circumstances, we conclude that he had a legitimate expectation that the contents of the package were private, 1 and has standing to assert fourth amendment protection.