Opinion ID: 377931
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the warrantless searches

Text: 14 It is well established by now, of course, that administrative searches such as the one here are subject to Fourth Amendment protection and generally must be conducted pursuant to a properly issued warrant. Marshall v. Barlow's, 436 U.S. 307, 98 S.Ct. 1816, 56 L.Ed.2d 305 (1978), Camara v. Municipal Court of the City and County of San Francisco, 387 U.S. 523, 87 S.Ct. 1727, 18 L.Ed.2d 930 (1967). Warrantless searches are presumptively unreasonable, Katz, supra 389 U.S. at 357, 88 S.Ct. at 514, Laprease v. Raymours Furniture Co., 315 F.Supp. 716, 721 (N.D.N.Y.1970). It is normally the Government's burden, therefore, to show a warrantless search is otherwise reasonable within the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Jeffers, 342 U.S. 48, 51, 72 S.Ct. 93, 95, 96 L.Ed. 59 (1951). 15 It is equally well established, however, that Fourth Amendment protections do not apply to areas or articles not within the individual's reasonable expectation of privacy. Katz, supra 389 U.S. at 361, 88 S.Ct. at 516 (opinion of Justice Harlan). As was stated in United States v. Freie, 545 F.2d 1217, 1223 (9th Cir. 1976), cert. denied sub nom. Gangadean v. United States, 430 U.S. 966, 97 S.Ct. 1645, 52 L.Ed.2d 356, paraphrasing Justice Harlan's view of the Katz ruling: ever since (Katz ), the determination of whether an intrusion is an unreasonable search has depended on one's actual subjective expectation of privacy and whether that expectation is objectively reasonable. In the present case, the appellees seek to immunize their warrantless entries on the basis that it would be objectively unreasonable for the appellant to maintain any expectation of privacy in portions of multi-family properties which were open and completely unsecured. 3 The district court agreed with this analysis, apparently, because it granted summary judgment to the appellees, never addressing the initial question of appellant's subjective expectations. Because we feel the district judge imposed overly stringent limitation on what subjective expectations of privacy might be found objectively reasonable, we reverse and remand for consideration of appellant's subjective expectations. 16 By suggesting that it would be objectively unreasonable for an individual to maintain an expectation of privacy in unoccupied, open, and unsecured portions of multi-family dwellings, appellees are, in essence, requesting this court to write a new open and unsecured exception into the generally applicable warrant requirement. Appellees imply that such an exception would be a natural outgrowth of the previously established plain view and open fields exceptions. We disagree. 17 Initially, we note that the privacy interests protected by the Fourth Amendment are to be jealously guarded. Thus, it has been stated that one governing principle, justified by history and by current experience, has consistently been followed: except in certain carefully defined classes of cases, a search of private property without proper consent is 'unreasonable' unless it has been authorized by a valid search warrant, Camara, supra 387 U.S. at 528-29, 87 S.Ct. at 1731 (emphasis added), and that unless some recognized exception to the warrant requirement applies, See v. City of Seattle, (387 U.S. 541, 87 S.Ct. 1737, 18 L.Ed.2d 943 (1967)) would require a warrant to conduct the inspection. . . . Barlow's, supra 436 U.S. at 313, 98 S.Ct. at 1820 (emphasis added). 18 In the present case, neither the plain view nor the open fields exception established in Hester v. United States, 265 U.S. 57, 44 S.Ct. 445, 68 L.Ed. 898 (1924), and more recently applied in Air Pollution Variance Board of Colorado v. Western Alfalfa Corp., 416 U.S. 861, 94 S.Ct. 2114, 40 L.Ed.2d 607 (1974), would be directly applicable. The plain view exception is obviously unavailable to justify entry into the duplex because on the facts presently developed, nothing in the interior of the building has been shown to have been in plain view of the health officer while he was located where he had a right to be, on the outside. United States v. Pond, 382 F.Supp. 556, 562 (S.D.N.Y.1974), aff'd, 523 F.2d 210 (2d Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1058, 96 S.Ct. 794, 46 L.Ed.2d 649. It is also doubtful, however, whether this exception is of any assistance in justifying the entries into the basement and apartment on Pennsylvania Street. The most obvious problem is that it is not even clear in this case what, if any, violations were in plain view of the officer while he was located where he had a right to be. Even if we were to assume arguendo, however, that some health violations were in view at that time, this fact alone would not seem to justify the warrantless entries into appellant's property without the concurrence of exigent circumstances. Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 433, 464-68, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 2037-39, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971), United States v. Gardner, 467 F.2d 205, 207 (7th Cir. 1972). Although such a view may help furnish the probable cause necessary to obtain a search warrant, it does not itself justify a warrantless search. United States v. Holmes, 521 F.2d 859, 869 (5th Cir. 1975), aff'd in relevant part en banc, 537 F.2d 227 (5th Cir. 1976); United States v. Basurto, 497 F.2d 781, 787-88 (9th Cir. 1974) and Gardner, supra at 207. Furthermore, a fundamental requirement of the exception is that the view must be inadvertent and unexpected. Coolidge, supra 403 U.S. at 469-73, 91 S.Ct. at 2040-42; Blackie's House of Beef, Inc. v. Castillo, 480 F.Supp. 1078, 1087-88 (D.D.C.1979). In this case, of course, the health officer entered the premises for the sole purpose of searching for health code violations. The alleged discovery of such violations can hardly be said to have been inadvertent. See Coolidge, supra 403 U.S. at 473, 91 S.Ct. at 2042, and Holmes, supra at 869. 19 The open fields exception is subject to similar considerations and is, therefore, not directly applicable. Initially, it is unclear how the open fields exception can be used to justify the entry of appellees into a contained dwelling or area, albeit unsecured and having its door open. The open fields exception, in fact, does not even justify the warrantless search of open areas within the curtilage of a dwelling. Wattenburg v. United States, 388 F.2d 853, 857 (9th Cir. 1968), and see United States v. Bensinger, 489 F.2d 865, 867-68 (7th Cir. 1973), cert. denied sub nom. Felton v. Saiken, 417 U.S. 910, 94 S.Ct. 2607, 41 L.Ed.2d 214. The exception, as with the plain view exception, simply allows the warrantless seizure of evidence visible to the official or any member of the general public while they are located where they are lawfully allowed. It does not justify a warrantless entry in the first place. Air Pollution Variance Board, supra, is not inconsistent because in that case the inspector entered no part of the objector's plant to make his inspection. The Court noted: The field inspector was on the respondent's property but we are not advised he was on premises from which the public was excluded, and from that vantage point the inspector sighted what anyone in the city who was near the plant could see in the sky plumes of smoke. 416 U.S. at 865, 94 S.Ct. at 2115. Even if the exception would justify an entry upon the sighting of a health violation, however, nothing in the interior of the duplex has been shown to have been visible to the health official while he was on the outside, and there is no finding of what, if any, violations were visible to the official through the open doorways in the apartment house. Moreover, even if the conditions in the apartment house were apparent to the inspector or tenants once they were inside the building, we do not believe this limited degree of visibility is to be equated to the visibility available to members of the general public required by the open fields rationale. 20 Nor does appellees' offered exception necessarily follow from the plain view or open fields exceptions. These exceptions are grounded upon the presumption that an individual who leaves articles in plain view or in open fields visible to any member of the general public can have no reasonable expectation of privacy in those articles. Freie, supra at 1223. Even if we were to assume arguendo that appellant's privacy expectations applicable to conditions within four walls, albeit with an open entrance, is only minimally greater than expectations of privacy warranted over conditions in open fields, the fact that no expectation is reasonable in the latter situation does not necessarily rule out a sufficient expectation in the former. 21 With regard to establishing what appears to be a new exception to the warrant requirement by finding appellant's potential expectations objectively unreasonable, the recent case of Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499, 98 S.Ct. 1942, 56 L.Ed.2d 486 (1978), is instructive, if not controlling. In Tyler, respondents had been convicted in state court of conspiring to burn their furniture store. Evidence incriminating them had been gathered during three warrantless entries and searches of the burned premises by police and fire officials without consent: 1) during and immediately after efforts to extinguish the fire; 2) four hours after the fire had been extinguished and after the inspectors had left and then returned to the premises; and 3) almost four weeks after the fire had occurred. The Michigan Supreme Court had suppressed the evidence discovered during the latter two searches, stating, (once) the blaze (has been) extinguished and the firefighters have left the premises, a warrant is required to reenter and search the premises unless there is consent or the premises have been abandoned. People v. Tyler, 339 Mich. 564, 583, 250 N.W.2d 467, 477 (1977). As there was no consent for the searches and the facts failed to establish an abandonment, the state supreme court reversed the convictions. 22 The United States Supreme Court partially affirmed and partially reversed. The Court agreed that the first search was reasonable because the fire clearly presented the exigent circumstances necessary to justify a warrantless entry, and once in the building for this lawful purpose, the firefighters could seize evidence in plain view. 436 U.S. at 509, 98 S.Ct. at 1950. The Court also agreed that the final search, occurring almost four weeks after the fire was clearly detached from the initial exigency and thus not justified or reasonable absent a warrant or consent. It was with respect to the second search that the Court disagreed and reversed. The Court held that because there would have been no constitutional infirmity had the fire officials remained and searched in the burned premises during the four hour period, and because the officials had departed solely because visibility had been severely hindered by darkness, steam, and smoke, the reentries four hours later were no more than an actual continuance of the first (search), and the lack of a warrant thus does not invalidate the resulting seizure of evidence. Id. at 511, 98 S.Ct. at 1951. 23 On its face, the Tyler case would seem dispositive of the issues before us, at least with respect to the search of the Brookside fire-damage duplex. There was clearly no exigency such as a continuing fire justifying the entry of the health official, and as there was no consent, a warrant would seem required. Appellees, however, seek to distinguish Tyler on two theories. 24 First, appellees accurately point out that Tyler was concerned with the privacy expectations of the occupants of the burned premises, not of the non-resident owners. We think, however, that this is a distinction without a difference. Initially, it should be noted that the Court's concern with the occupants' expectations was due solely to the fact that the occupants and the owners in that case were the same individuals. Even if Tyler is not directly on point, however, we think its reasoning is applicable to our evaluation of the potential expectations of appellant. For example, as in Tyler, it is possible that appellant had personal effects remaining in the fire-damaged building. See id. at 505, 98 S.Ct. at 1947. Similarly, a warrant provides property owners and occupants alike with assurances as to the legality of the entry. See id. at 508, 98 S.Ct. at 1949. The Court itself analogized these two situations by stating the warrant requirement provides significant protection to fire victims in this context, just as it does for property owners faced with routine building inspections. Id. In sum, we believe the appellant here is as much a victim of the fire as were the occupants in Tyler, and might well have retained expectations of privacy in the burned premises. 25 Appellees also stress the point that the premises in Tyler had been secured by the fire department between its inspections while the Brookside duplex and areas in the Pennsylvania Street building were admittedly open and unsecured. It does not appear, however, that the fact the premises in Tyler were secured by the fire department played any real part in the Court's decision and was mentioned only as one element to be taken into account by a magistrate in deciding whether to issue a warrant. 4 Id. at 507, 98 S.Ct. at 1949. Beyond this, moreover, it appears that appellees have entirely missed the central issue in their argument. The ultimate question to be decided in this and other similar cases is whether the individual entertains a reasonable expectation of privacy. In an effort to resolve this question we sometimes look to evidence and manifestations of the individual's expectations, such as his securing or nonsecuring of the premises searched. The fact that the fire department secured the premises in Tyler, therefore, is irrelevant to the question of the occupant's or owner's expectations, barring some evidence that the relevant parties relied upon the fire department's action and would have secured the premises themselves but for that action. The operative fact in Tyler so far as we are concerned here, is that there was, apparently, no evidence that the occupants had ever attempted to secure the premises or had relied upon the fire department's action. It was in spite of this fact, not because of it, that the Supreme Court held that the occupants might still entertain a reasonable expectation of privacy in the building. 26 We think the equivalent expectation would be reasonable in the present case, certainly insofar as the Brookside duplex is concerned. We also feel, however, that these same considerations are relevant to the review of the Pennsylvania Street apartment house search. The fact that the basement and apartment doors were open, thus leaving unspecified parts of the interiors open to view from the hallway, may present elements to be taken into account by the district court when determining appellant's subjective expectations, or by a magistrate when deciding whether to issue a search warrant. We do not believe, however, these facts necessitate the conclusion on summary judgment that an expectation of privacy by appellant would have been objectively unreasonable. 27 In sum, we hold that an expectation of privacy by appellant could be reasonable notwithstanding the fact that the properties were open and completely unsecured. The fact that members of the public could have discovered these alleged violations by affirmatively trespassing upon appellant's properties, of course, fails to legitimize an otherwise invalid search, see Holmes, supra at 869, and the fact that portions of the interiors may have been visible to tenants and their guests and invitees does not mean that appellant necessarily threw open the interiors of his premises to general public scrutiny. Though the objective limitations upon appellant's expectations may have been narrowed because these areas were visible to those individuals, nevertheless, broader expectations than those appropriate to objects in open fields, visible to members of the general public, would seem warranted. 28 Even if these areas were visible to the public, however, the inquiry is not necessarily ended. As was stated in Katz, supra 389 U.S. at 351, 88 S.Ct. at 511, and Wattenburg, supra at 857, the proper inquiry is whether the search occurred in an area the resident sought to preserve as private even if the area is accessible to the public. Similarly, in Bensinger, supra at 868, this court stated that Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960), and Katz, supra, caution a court to be alert . . . to considerations which would make reasonable a constitutionally protected entitlement to privacy regardless of the area involved. 5 29 The foundation of the district court's summary judgment was that the involved premises were so open and completely unsecured that they could not reasonably be within the owner's expectation of privacy. While candor compels us to recognize that the case may be a close one, nevertheless, we do not regard the meagre record here as justifying summary judgment. We are not aware of any requirement in law that the owner of property take affirmative steps to proclaim his expectation of privacy. One does not have to post signs prohibiting trespass, or keep his doors closed and locked (even though those procedures might be prudent in today's society), to maintain in full effectiveness an expectation of privacy. It is true that the plaintiff's affidavit relied solely on his ownership of the property to justify his alleged expectation of privacy, but that, it appears to us, without more, and in the absence of an affirmative showing that he had abandoned his expectation, should be sufficient to have made summary judgment inappropriate. 30 We do not regard Katz, supra, as standing for the proposition that ownership alone is an insufficient basis for a reasonable expectation of privacy. This was made clear in Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978) in which the Court stated in discussing the implications of Katz : 31 Legitimation of expectations of privacy by law must have a source outside of the Fourth Amendment, either by reference to concepts of real or personal property law or to understandings that are recognized and permitted by society. One of the main rights attaching to property is the right to exclude others, see W. Blackstone, Commentaries, Book 2, ch. 1, and one who owns or lawfully possesses or controls property will in all likelihood have a legitimate expectation of privacy by virtue of this right to exclude. Expectations of privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment, of course, need not be based on a common-law interest in real or personal property, or on the invasion of such an interest. These ideas were rejected both in Jones, supra, (362 U.S. 257, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960)) and Katz, supra. But by focusing on legitimate expectations of privacy in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, the Court has not altogether abandoned use of property concepts in determining the presence or absence of the privacy interests protected by that Amendment. 32 439 U.S. at 144 n.12, 99 S.Ct. at 431 and see The Relationship Between Trespass and Fourth Amendment Protection after Katz v. United States, 38 Ohio L.J. 709 (1977). 33 Earlier cases interpreting Katz have also held that the analysis and comments in that case indicating that the Fourth Amendment is not dependent upon common law property concepts were meant to expand the right to privacy and legitimate expectations of privacy, not limit them, and that Katz did not render considerations of common law property rights irrelevant. E. g., United States v. Carriger, 541 F.2d 545, 549 (6th Cir. 1976); United States v. Botelho, 360 F.Supp. 620 (D.Hawaii, 1973) and see United States v. Alewelt, 532 F.2d 1165, 1168 (7th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 840, 97 S.Ct. 114, 50 L.Ed.2d 109, and Amsterdam, Perspectives on the Fourth Amendment, 58 Minn.L.Rev. 349, 385 (1974). Furthermore, the fact the searched areas were unoccupied is relevant, though not dispositive. Steeber v. United States, 198 F.2d 615 (10th Cir. 1952); United States v. Thomas, 216 F.Supp. 942 (N.D.Cal.1963). 34 It may well be that upon the development of a full evidentiary record, it will be found that the plaintiff had effectively abandoned his right to exclude. On the basis of the summary judgment affidavits, however, that cannot now be said. Reasonable expectation of privacy should be established by facts, an initial one being that of ownership. The plaintiff's affidavit established ownership and we do not conceive that his affidavit would have been aided by a self-serving, non-factual declaration that he expected privacy. On the other hand, an open and unsecured condition of the premises, also a fact, would point away from a reasonable expectation. The open and unsecured nature of the premises upon which the district court relied did not prohibit the inspector from seeing what was visible from points at which he had a right to be, but that condition per se did not justify the subsequent warrantless entry. The very conflict between the facts of ownership on the one hand and the open condition on the other creates the genuine issue of material fact concerning appellant's subjective expectations calling for evidentiary resolution. 35 In addition to further factual development bearing on the plaintiff's subjective expectations, it will no doubt be pertinent to know what if any health violations were actually visible through the apartment building's open doors. 6 On remand, the district court should evaluate the evidence in light of the well established principles that warrants are usually required for searches of this type and that the Government has a significant burden in justifying a warrantless search. The requirement of a warrant would not impose an unreasonable limitation upon the ability of the appellees to perform their statutory duties, see Camara, supra 387 U.S. at 533, 87 S.Ct. at 1733, nor would the burden upon the agency to show the probable cause required for a warrant be too great, see Barlow's, supra 436 U.S. at 320-21, 98 S.Ct. at 1824-25 and Camara, supra 387 U.S. at 538, 87 S.Ct. at 1735. The inconvenience of obtaining a warrant alone, of course, is no justification for by-passing the constitutional requirement. McDonald v. United States, 335 U.S. 451, 69 S.Ct. 191, 93 L.Ed. 153 (1948). In short, on these facts, even a minimal showing by appellant of his objectively reasonable expectation of privacy would seem to outweigh appellees' legitimate interests in conducting a warrantless search, even in areas visible to tenants.