Opinion ID: 182380
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Contents of the Cardboard Box

Text: Oliver argues that the district court improperly denied his motion to suppress evidence found in the cardboard box left in Armstrong's apartment, including a ziplock bag containing credit cards, a white envelope containing identification cards, a notebook, and some loose paperwork. He contends that the district court erred in relying on the private search doctrine in upholding the legitimacy of the search because the private search doctrine is inapplicable where police are unaware of a prior private search. Oliver also challenges the district court's factual finding that Armstrong searched the box and the plastic bag it contained. In addition, he maintains that the police search of the notebook exceeded the scope of the private search. The Fourth Amendment proscribes unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. CONST. AMEND. IV; accord Garcia, 604 F.3d at 190; United States v. Scroggins, 599 F.3d 433, 440 (5th Cir. 2010). But for a few exceptions, warrantless searches and seizures are  per se unreasonable. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 219, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973) (internal quotation marks omitted). A search occurs when an expectation of privacy that society is prepared to consider reasonable is infringed. United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 113, 104 S.Ct. 1652, 80 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984). Assuming, without deciding, that Oliver initially possessed a reasonable expectation of privacy in the cardboard box and its contents, the district court did not err in failing to suppress the evidence obtained because a private search of the box had already occurred. The Fourth Amendment does not protect against searches conducted by private individuals acting in a private capacity. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. at 113, 104 S.Ct. 1652; United States v. Runyan, 275 F.3d 449, 457 (5th Cir. 2001). Rather, it proscribes only governmental action and is wholly inapplicable `to a search or seizure, even an unreasonable one, effected by a private individual not acting as an agent of the Government or with the participation or knowledge of any government official.' Jacobsen, 466 U.S. at 113-14, 104 S.Ct. 1652 (quoting Walter v. United States, 447 U.S. 649, 662, 100 S.Ct. 2395, 65 L.Ed.2d 410 (1980) (Blackmun, J., dissenting)). Where a private individual examines the contents of a closed container, a subsequent search of the container by government officials does not constitute an unlawful search for purposes of the Fourth Amendment as long as the government search does not exceed the scope of the private search. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. at 115, 104 S.Ct. 1652; Runyan, 275 F.3d at 460-61. `[T]his court has recognized that a police view subsequent to a search conducted by private citizens does not constitute a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment so long as the view is confined to the scope and product of the initial search.' Runyan, 275 F.3d at 458 (quoting United States v. Bomengo, 580 F.2d 173, 175 (5th Cir.1978)); see United States v. Paige, 136 F.3d 1012, 1019 (5th Cir.1998); see also United States v. Miller, 152 F.3d 813, 815 (8th Cir.1998) ([T]o be a Fourth Amendment search, a governmental intrusion must infringe on a legitimate expectation of privacy. Because a private search frustrates such an expectation ... an ensuing police intrusion that stays within the limits of the private search is not a search for Fourth Amendment purposes.) (internal citations omitted). A defendant's expectation of privacy with respect to an item unopened by the private searcher is preserved, however, unless the defendant's expectation of privacy in the contents of the container has already been frustrated because the contents were rendered obvious by the private search. Runyan, 275 F.3d at 463-64. Language from the Supreme Court's Jacobsen opinion suggests that the critical inquiry under the Fourth Amendment is whether the authorities obtained information with respect to which the defendant's expectation of privacy has not already been frustrated. Thus, Jacobsen directs courts to inquire whether the government learned something from the police search that it could not have learned from the private searcher's testimony and, if so, whether the defendant had a legitimate expectation of privacy in that information. Runyan, 275 F.3d at 461 (citing Jacobsen, 466 U.S. at 118-20, 104 S.Ct. 1652). When confronted with situations where, as here, the police search items found within a residence after a private search has already been conducted, a defendant may retain a reasonable expectation of privacy following the private search under certain circumstances. Paige, 136 F.3d at 1020. To determine whether a defendant's reasonable expectation of privacy survives a private search, consideration must be given to whether the activities of the home's occupants or the circumstances within the home at the time of the private search created a risk of intrusion by the private party that was reasonably foreseeable.  Id. (emphasis added). If indeed the private party's intrusion was reasonably foreseeable (based on such activities or circumstances), the occupant will no longer possess a reasonable expectation of privacy in the area or thing searched, and the subsequent police search will not trigger the Fourth Amendment. If, however, the private party's initial intrusion was not reasonably foreseeable, the occupant's reasonable expectation of privacy will survive, and the subsequent police search will indeed activate the Fourth Amendment. Id. Oliver first argues that the private search doctrine is inapplicable because, at the time the agents searched the cardboard box, they did not know that Armstrong had already searched it and, thus, were not aware of the scope of Armstrong's search. Oliver points to no case, however, which expressly holds that police knowledge of a prior private search is necessary. [4] Moreover, language from Paige, which focuses on a defendant's reasonable expectation of privacy as to the private searcher, indicates that it is the private search itself that frustrates the privacy expectation: If indeed the private party's intrusion was reasonably foreseeable..., the occupant will no longer possess a reasonable expectation of privacy in the area or thing searched, and the subsequent police search will not trigger the Fourth Amendment. Id. Therefore, it is the private search itself, and not the authorities' learning of such search, that renders a police officer's subsequent warrantless search permissible. In the present case, it is undisputed that Armstrong and Oliver had a personal relationship and had been dating for several weeks, although Armstrong testified that she did not know Oliver's last name until she was informed of it by federal authorities. Oliver sometimes stayed as an overnight guest in her home and left personal belongings, including the box, in her apartment. As part of her investigation, McReynolds visited Armstrong at her apartment to inquire about Oliver and the items he had left in her home. While the agents were there, Armstrong telephoned Henson's girlfriend, Bree, who, according to Armstrong, advised her to get rid of anything that Lonnie left at [her] house. During this visit, Armstrong readily and willingly gave McReynolds the box, which she had already searched, as it was not locked or otherwise safeguarded and was left in her dining room. Oliver's decision to leave his unsecured cardboard box in an easily accessible and common area of the apartment for several days without notifying or otherwise communicating his whereabouts to Armstrong made it reasonably foreseeable that she would examine his belongings, including the box, to look for a way to contact him. Given these circumstances, the court finds that the initial private search, which was reasonably foreseeable, and the searcher's act, later that day, of voluntarily giving authorities the box, in which no reasonable expectation of privacy remained, rendered the subsequent police search permissible under the Fourth Amendment. This holding, however, is limited to the unique facts of this case and is not intended to expand significantly the scope of the private search doctrine. To the extent that Oliver contends that Armstrong's testimony that she searched the box and the plastic bag it contained was unsubstantiated, his argument fails. The district court legitimately credited Armstrong's testimony that she, in fact, searched the box and the bag. This factual finding is supported by Armstrong's ability to describe accurately the contents of both the box and the bag. Because there was support in the record for the district court's finding, it is not clearly erroneous. See United States v. Menchaca-Castruita, 587 F.3d 283, 289 (5th Cir.2009). Oliver next takes issue with the district court's implied conclusion that the notebook was not a separate, closed container, or at least an object in which Oliver possessed a reasonable expectation of privacy. Specifically, Oliver argues that even if the private search doctrine applies to the warrantless search of the box, it does not apply to the notebook, as Armstrong never searched the notebook. The government responds that the agents' search of the notebook did not exceed the scope of Armstrong's private search because her search rendered the contents of the notebook obvious. Although Armstrong did not conduct a separate search of the notebook, the government agents' subsequent search of the notebook was nonetheless lawful, as its contents were obvious. The words business ideas appeared on the front cover, and a loose sheet of paper revealing a victim's name and personal identifying information protruded from the side of the notebook. Oliver does not contend that this description of the notebook is inaccurate. Based on these characteristics, and given the agents' expertise, they could readily ascertain that the notebook contained Oliver's notes regarding the fraudulent unemployment benefits scheme about which Oliver had previously confessed. Because the notebook's contents were obvious, agents did not exceed the scope of Armstrong's private search. [5]