Opinion ID: 1349971
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Warrantless Search of Small Bobcat:

Text: On March 25, 1988, police officers discovered the small Bobcat on the street in front of Lodermeier's residence. It was sitting on a trailer which was parked over three and one-half feet from the curb. Because they constituted a hazard, the trailer and Bobcat were impounded. The officers noted the trailer was registered to Lodermeier, and the conspicuous, externally mounted serial number plate had been removed. The damaged rivets remained. Based on this knowledge, as well as the fact Lodermeier had recently been found in possession of stolen property, Folkerts and Prince uncovered the Bobcat's engine to find its hidden serial number. The engine number plate had also been removed, but the hidden engraved serial number was still in place. That number established the Bobcat as the one stolen from Mark's Machinery. Lodermeier argues this search was an impermissible infringement of his fourth amendment rights. We disagree. In State v. Thomale, 317 N.W.2d 147, 149 (S.D.1982), we stated: The United States Supreme Court in Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978), established a test for determining standing to dispute a search and seizure. The test is whether government officials violated any legitimate expectation of privacy held by the defendant.... The burden of proof is on [the] defendant to show that he had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the searched area. We held Thomale failed to establish standing to raise a fourth amendment claim where he had borrowed a leased automobile from the renter as the lease agreement did not list Thomale as a lessee and prohibited subleasing the vehicle. Id. Likewise, in State v. Caffrey, 332 N.W.2d 269, 274 (S.D.1983), we held the appellant could not establish a legitimate expectation of privacy in an automobile he had borrowed without permission. Numerous courts have held a person in possession of a stolen automobile does not have standing to challenge a search of that vehicle. See, e.g., United States v. Lanford, 838 F.2d 1351 (5th Cir.1988); Hill v. State, 299 Ark. 327, 773 S.W.2d 424 (1989); Sandborn v. State, 251 Ga. 169, 304 S.E.2d 377 (1983); State v. McFarland, 195 Neb. 394, 238 N.W.2d 237, 239-40 (1976); Jackson v. State, 745 S.W.2d 4 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1241, 108 S.Ct. 2916, 101 L.Ed.2d 947 (1988). Thus, Lodermeier has not established standing with respect to the stolen Bobcat and cannot object to the warrantless search of it. We affirm the trial court in refusing to suppress the stolen equipment as evidence.