Court Opinion

ID: 9550991
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:46:18.159115+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:22:51.740970
License: Public Domain

CLARK, J.,
Dissenting. — The warrantless search of the bag found in the trunk of defendant’s car was justified under the “automobile exception” to the warrant requirement. (Carroll v. United States (1925) 267 U.S. 132 [69 L.Ed. 543, 45 S.Ct. 280, 39 A.L.R. 790]; Chambers v. Maroney (1970) 399 U.S. 42 [26 L.Ed.2d 419, 90 S.Ct. 1975]; United States v. Finnegan (9th Cir. 1977) 568 F.2d 637.) United States v. Chadwick (1977) 433 U.S. 1 [53 L.Ed.2d 538, 97 S.Ct. 2476] is consistent with this conclusion.
In Chadwick, railroad officials in San Diego observed Machado and Leary load a footlocker onto a train bound for Boston. Their suspicions *425were aroused when they noticed that the trunk was unusually heavy for its size, and that it was leaking talcum powder, a substance often used to mask the odor of marijuana or hashish. Because Machado matched a profile used to spot drug traffickers, the railroad officials reported these circumstances to federal agents in San Diego, who in turn relayed the information, together with detailed descriptions of Machado and the footlocker, to their counterparts in Boston.
When the footlocker arrived in Boston federal narcotics agents used a trained dog to ascertain it contained marijuana. The agents then waited until Chadwick and Machado lifted the locker into the trunk of Chadwick’s car. “At that point, while the trunk of the car was still open and before the car engine had been started,” the agents arrested them. At the federal building an hour and a half later, the agents, without a warrant, opened the locker and discovered marijuana. (United States v. Chadwick, supra, 433 U.S. at pp. 3-4 [53 L.Ed.2d at p. 543].)
In the federal district court, the government explained its omission to obtain a search warrant was justified under the automobile exception of Chambers v. Maroney, supra, 399 U.S. 42. Rejecting this argument on the ground that the relationship between the footlocker and Chadwick’s automobile was merely coincidental, the district court suppressed the marijuana, and the court of appeals affirmed. As the majority note (ante, p. 419, fn. 4), the government abandoned this contention when the case was argued before the Supreme Court. “The Government does not contend that the footlocker’s brief contact with Chadwick’s car makes this an automobile search, but it is argued that the rationale of our automobile search cases demonstrates the reasonableness of permitting warrantless searches of luggage; the Government views such luggage as analogous to motor vehicles for Fourth Amendment purposes.” (433 U.S. at pp. 11-12 [53 L.Ed.2d at p. 548.)
The government’s argument rested on the novel proposition that “the Fourth Amendment Warrant Clause protects only interests traditionally identified with the home.” (433 U.S. at p. 6 [53 L.Ed.2d at p. 545].) “Drawing on its reading of history, the Government argues that only homes, offices, and private communications implicate interests which lie at the core of the Fourth Amendment. Accordingly, it is only in these contexts that the determination whether a search or seizure is reasonable should turn on whether a warrant has been obtained. In all other situations, the Government contends, less significant privacy values are at stake, and the reasonableness of a government intrusion should depend *426solely on whether there is probable cause to believe evidence of criminal conduct is present. Where personal effects are lawfully seized outside the home on probable cause, the Government would thus regard searches without a warrant as not ‘unreasonable.’ ” (Id., at p. 7 [53 L.Ed.2d at p. 545].)
Rejecting this argument, the Supreme Court declined to extend the automobile exception to all movable personalty lawfully seized in a public place. The high court pointed out that it is the diminished expectation of privacy surrounding the automobile, rather than its mobility, which justifies a warrantless search. “The factors which diminish the privacy aspects of an automobile do not apply to respondents’' footlocker,” the court held. “Luggage contents are not open to public view, except as a condition to a border entry or common carrier travel; nor is luggage subject to regular inspections and official scrutiny on a continuing basis. Unlike an automobile, whose primary function is transportation, luggage is intended as a repository of personal effects. In sum, a person’s expectations of privacy in personal luggage are substantially greater than in an automobile.” (433 U.S. at p. 13 [53 L.Ed.2d at p. 549].)
As the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has recognized, “a unique fact situation was presented in Chadwick which controlled the outcome of the case. Had the facts been only marginally different, as Justice Blackmun pointed out in his dissenting opinion, the search would have been upheld under established exceptions to the warrant requirement. The agents could have avoided having the footlocker search held unconstitutional either by delaying the arrest for a few minutes until the car was in motion or by conducting the search at the time and place of the arrests.” (United States v. Finnegan (9th Cir. 1977) 568 F.2d 637, 641, fn. omitted; accord, United States v. Ochs (2d Cir. 1979) 595 F.2d 1247.)
This point bears repetition. As Justice Blackmun emphasized in his dissenting opinion — without contradiction by the majority — Chadwick does not limit the automobile exception to the warrant requirement by holding that closed containers found in an automobile are outside the scope of that exception. To the contrary, as Justice Blackmun pointed out, “if the agents, had postponed the arrest just a few minutes longer until the respondents started to drive away, then the car could have been seized, taken to the agents’ office, and all its contents — including the footlocker *427—searched without a warrant.” (433 U.S. at pp. 22-23 [53 L.Ed.2d at pp. 555-556].) “The scope of the ‘automobile search’ exception to the warrant requirement extends to the contents of locked compartments, including glove compartments and trunks. [Citation.] The Courts of Appeals have construed this doctrine to include briefcases, suitcases, and footlockers inside automobiles. United States v. Tramunti, 513 F.2d 1087, 1104-1105 (CA2 1975); United States v. Issod, 508 F.[2d] 990, 993 (CA7 1974), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 916 (1975); United States v. Soriano, 497 F.2d 147 (CA5 1974) (en banc), convictions summarily aff’d sub nom. United States v. Aviles, 535 F.2d 658 (1976), cert. pending, Nos. 76-5132 and 76-5143; United States v. Evans, 481 F.2d 990, 993-994 (CA9 1973).” (Id., at p. 23, fn. 4 [53 L.Ed.2d at p. 556].)
Chadwick’s limited significance has been pointed out by the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Finnegan, supra, 568 F.2d 637. “The Supreme Court in Chadwick did not substitute a test of ‘expectation of privacy’ for probable cause. Indeed, the Court did not address the tests for, or scope of, the automobile search exception since those issues were not before it in light of the government’s failure to renew on appeal its argument based on the automobile exception. Rather, Chadwick explicates the rationale for excepting a new class of objects from the usual proscription against warrantless searches. Chadwick lays down a rule whereby courts faced with an invitation by the government to define a new class of objects which may be searched without warrant must consider whether there is a diminished expectation of privacy with respect to that class of objects.” (Id., at p. 641.)
The warrantless search of the bag found in the trunk of defendant’s car having been justified under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement, the judgment should be affirmed.
Respondent’s petition for a rehearing was denied June 27, 1978.