Opinion ID: 1616861
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Necropsy of Dog

Text: As previously noted, during the execution of the search warrant on the evening of March 16, 1999, Monica was asked to remove a dog from the residence. The next day, Rawalt spoke to Monica and told her that police had decided to x-ray the dog and that the dog might be euthanized. Monica told Rawalt that the dog was at Cruz' house. Monica testified that Rawalt told her why police wanted to check the dog, and Monica told Rawalt to [g]o ahead and check the dog, and that she did not want the dog back. The dog was seized from Cruz' residence without a warrant. Police took the dog to be x-rayed, and a bone was seen in the digestive tract of the dog. It was determined that the only way to retrieve the bone was to euthanize the dog. Kinsey testified that he had been uncertain whether the dog belonged to Monica or to her son and that he had learned that the dog belonged to Monica's son. The transcript of Monica's interview with Kinsey contains references to her son's feeding his dog. Monica testified expressly that Mata had given the dog to her son and that Mata fed the dog now and then, but he really didn't pay attention to it. The district court found that Mata had purchased the dog, but had given the dog to Monica's son, and that Monica, as the mother of her son, had the legal right to dispose of the dog. The court also determined that because Mata neither owned the dog nor had an expectation of privacy regarding the dog, Mata had no standing to contest its seizure. We note, although it is not contested by the State, that privately owned animals are effects subject to the protections of the Fourth Amendment. See Altman v. City of High Point, N.C., 330 F.3d 194 (4th Cir.2003) (collecting cases). Before one may challenge a nonconsensual search without a warrant, one must have standing in a legal controversy. State v. Conklin, 249 Neb. 727, 545 N.W.2d 101 (1996). A standing analysis in the context of search and seizure is nothing more than an inquiry into whether the disputed search and seizure has infringed an interest of the defendant in violation of the protection afforded by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. State v. Konfrst, 251 Neb. 214, 556 N.W.2d 250 (1996). To determine whether an individual has an interest protected by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Neb. Const. art. I, § 7, one must determine whether the individual has a legitimate or justifiable expectation of privacy in the invaded place. Ordinarily, two inquiries are required. First, the individual must have exhibited an actual (subjective) expectation of privacy, and second, the expectation must be one that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable. State v. Lara, 258 Neb. 996, 607 N.W.2d 487 (2000). The premise of Mata's argument on appeal is that because the dog was originally located at Monica's residence, which Mata shared, he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of the residence. Mata then argues that when Monica removed the dog from the residence, at the direction of law enforcement, she was doing so as an agent of law enforcement. Mata then concludes by arguing that when the dog was taken from Cruz' residence the next day, it was a warrantless seizure. We first note that this argument differs from that made to the district court, where Mata contended that he actually owned the dog. An issue not presented to or decided on by the trial court is not an appropriate issue for consideration on appeal. State v. Buckman, 259 Neb. 924, 613 N.W.2d 463 (2000). Even if we consider Mata's argument, however, it is without merit. Although police asked Monica to remove the dog from the home, Monica had the legal right to do so. Mata argues that this made Monica an agent of the police, such that they were engaged in a joint endeavor subject to the constitutional safeguard against an unreasonable search or seizure. See State v. Abdouch, 230 Neb. 929, 941, 434 N.W.2d 317, 325 (1989). Resolution of whether an individual is acting as an agent of law enforcement is a question of fact determined by the totality of the circumstances. See, Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971); State v. Sardeson, 231 Neb. 586, 437 N.W.2d 473 (1989); People in Interest of P.E.A., 754 P.2d 382 (Colo. 1988) (en banc). The defendant has the burden of establishing that a private individual acted as an agent of law enforcement. People in Interest of P.E.A., supra . Cf. Sardeson, supra . There is no factual basis in the record to support Mata's assertion that Monica was acting as an agent of law enforcement. There is a difference between acting as an agent of law enforcement and simply cooperating with a reasonable request made by law enforcement during a legal search. On the record before us, there is no suggestion that Monica's removal of the dog from the residence was intended to facilitate its seizure by law enforcement, as opposed to being in Monica's self-interest to recover her child's property. See Gundlach v. Janing, 401 F.Supp. 1089 (D.Neb.1975), aff'd 536 F.2d 754 (8th Cir.1976). Just as significant is the fact that even if an agency relationship had been established, Monica engaged in no conduct that would violate the Fourth Amendment. If a private citizen has the right to search in a particular place or seize certain property by virtue of his or her own personal relationship to the premises or property in question, that right is not diminished by the individual's relationship with law enforcement. See, e.g., U.S. v. Jenkins, 46 F.3d 447 (5th Cir.1995); United States v. West, 453 F.2d 1351 (3d Cir.1972); People v. Heflin, 71 Ill.2d 525, 376 N.E.2d 1367, 17 Ill.Dec. 786 (1978); People v. Thompson, 25 Cal.App.3d 132, 101 Cal.Rptr. 683 (1972). Cf. Coolidge, supra . The district court concluded, as a factual matter, that the dog legally belonged to Monica. Obviously, even if an agency relationship existed between Monica and the police, it could not encroach on Monica's right to enter her own residence and seize her own property. See West, supra . The record supports the conclusion, based on the facts set forth above, that Monica was the legal owner of the dog and had the right to remove her personal property from her own residence. The dog, when it was seized by law enforcement the next day, was at Cruz' residence, where Mata had no reasonable expectation of privacy and, thus, no standing to object to the seizure. Mata essentially asks this court to conclude that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding someone else's personal property, kept in someone else's home. There is no foundation in law or logic for such a conclusion. Furthermore, the record supports the district court's findings that Monica, as the legal owner of the dog, had authority to consent to the seizure of the dog the next day and that she did so. Animals are personal property under Nebraska law. Fackler v. Genetzky, 257 Neb. 130, 595 N.W.2d 884 (1999). When the prosecution seeks to justify a warrantless search by proof of voluntary consent, it is not limited to proof that the consent was given by the defendant, but may show that the permission to search was obtained from a third party who possessed common authority over or other sufficient relationship to the premises or effects sought to be inspected. State v. Konfrst, 251 Neb. 214, 556 N.W.2d 250 (1996), citing United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 94 S.Ct. 988, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (1974). The consent to search given by one who possesses common authority over premises or effects is valid as against the absent, nonconsenting person with whom that authority is shared. Matlock, supra . As previously noted, the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment can be waived by the consent of the citizen. See State v. Dallmann, 260 Neb. 937, 621 N.W.2d 86 (2000). The State sufficiently established that this exception to the warrant requirement was met in this case. For the foregoing reasons, Mata's third assignment of error is without merit.