Opinion ID: 776532
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Capacity of Appellants to Claim the Protection of the Fourth Amendment

Text: The Fourth Amendment guarantees 67 the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures ... and that no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. 68 U.S. Const. amend. IV. In its denial of Appellants' motion to suppress, the District Court determined that the issue of their standing was moot in light of the Court's decision on the merits that no Fourth Amendment violation occurred. 69 We may affirm the rulings of the District Court for any proper reason that appears on the record even where not relied on by it. United States v. Miller, 224 F.3d 247, 248 (3d Cir.2000). We address the capacity issue here because we think it falls squarely within the Supreme Court's holding in Minnesota v. Carter, which declared that the `capacity to claim the protection of the Fourth Amendment depends ... upon whether the person who claims the protection of the Amendment has a legitimate expectation of privacy in the invaded place.' 525 U.S. 83, 88, 119 S.Ct. 469, 142 L.Ed.2d 373 (1998) (citing Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 143, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978)). Under this rule, persons in another's apartment for a short time for the business purpose of packaging cocaine had no legitimate expectation of privacy in that apartment. Thus any search which may have occurred did not violate their Fourth Amendment rights. Id. at 91, 119 S.Ct. 469. Although overnight guests who are legitimately in a third-party's apartment may have a reasonable expectation of privacy, Appellants do not qualify. See Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91, 98-99, 110 S.Ct. 1684, 109 L.Ed.2d 85 (1990). Perez, a resident of Virginia, was booked at the Queens Motor Inn. She actually stayed at Batoon's home the night before the arrest. She did not stay overnight at Del Rosario's apartment. Nor was there any evidence that either Alcantera or Batoon resided at or were staying overnight at Del Rosario's apartment. 70 Appellants cite to United States v. Erwin, in which the Tenth Circuit ruled, in the context of an automobile stop and search, that [e]ven if defendant lacks standing 16 to challenge the search of the car, if the initial stop was illegal, the seized contraband is subject to exclusion under the `fruit of the poison tree' doctrine. 875 F.2d 268, 269 & n. 2 (10th Cir.1989) (citing Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 484, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963)). The rationale of Erwin, however, does not apply in this context. Instead, we find the reasoning of Justice Kennedy in his concurrence in Carter to be on point. He posed the following hypothetical where the entry was illegal: If respondents here had been visiting twenty homes, each for a minute or two, to drop off a bag of cocaine and were apprehended by a policeman wrongfully present in the nineteenth home,... we would have said that Rakas compels the rejection of any privacy interest respondents might assert. 525 U.S. at 102, 119 S.Ct. 469 (Kennedy, J., concurring); Rakas, 439 U.S. at 143, 99 S.Ct. 421. 71 In sum, we find no evidence that the Appellants were at Del Rosario's apartment for any purpose other than to engage in drug-related activities. They therefore have no reasonable expectation of privacy in Del Rosario's apartment to challenge the items seized therefrom under the Fourth Amendment and their claims are rejected on that basis. See United States v. Vega, 221 F.3d 789, 797 (5th Cir.2000) (rejecting appellant's challenge of a search where he presented no evidence to meet his burden of showing that he had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the residence searched). 72 Alcantera and Batoon also argue, and the Government concedes, that they had a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the items seized from them personally. From Alcantera the Government seized a cell phone with battery and a pager; from Batoon a small amount of methamphetamine consistent with personal use and a pager. However, in light of all of the other evidence properly seized from Del Rosario's apartment pursuant to the search warrant (see discussion below), any alleged error in the admission of this evidence is rendered harmless. See United States v. Price, 13 F.3d 711, 720 (3d Cir.1994) (finding harmless the erroneous denial of a motion to suppress fourteen kilograms of cocaine in light of the testimony of several witnesses that appellant delivered cocaine for distribution, wore a ring associated with a drug-trafficking organization, and worked with members of that organization). 73