Court Opinion

ID: 9857197
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 13:56:35.117795+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:38:08.097178
License: Public Domain

Schroeder, ].,
dissenting:
While concurring with that portion of the court’s opinion regarding the search of “Room A” in the administrative offices of Lake-view Village, Inc., I fail to see why a different rule should be applied to the area of the administrative offices designated as “Room B” in the stipulations of the parties.
Here we have what may be described as an embezzlement (felonious theft under our new criminal code) of approximately $100,000 by an employee (the administrator) of Lakeview Village, a corporation. The record discloses, and the court concedes, the proprietor of the property, Lakeview Village, the victim of the crimes for which evidence was being gathered, initiated the search. From this it must be presumed the employer consented to the search. Under these circumstances with respect to “Room A” in the administrative offices of Lakeview Village, the court says:
“. . . His status was that of an employee of the corporation. As against him his employer could have preempted its own property and his privacy would not have been invaded. Under these circumstances there simply was no expectation of freedom from intrusion instigated and directed by that employer and no standing to object to search and seizure existed. . . .”
The court then proceeds upon what I consider to be a false premise in analyzing the search and seizure of evidence from “Room R.” In the opinion the court says:
“. . . The state concedes in its brief and in oral argument that defendant does have standing to challenge the search of his private desk, credenza and file cabinet located in office B. . . .”
Throughout the state’s application for an interlocutory appeal it contends the defendant does not have standing to challenge the search of Lenexa State Rank, Southgate State Rank, or Lakeview Village; that with respect to the search of Lakeview Village Corporation, the defendant is without standing to contest the search of the corporate premises. The state then recites in its application:
“. . . However, the defendant clearly has standing to challenge the search and seizure of his personal papers and property as he has a possessory interest in them under the authority of [State v.] Sumner, [210 Kan. 802, 504 P. 2d 239].” (Emphasis added.)
In State v. Sumner, 210 Kan. 802, 504 P. 2d 239 (to which the state makes reference above), the court said:
*261“This court has previously considered the question of standing to object to the infringement of the constitutional right to be secure in one’s person, house, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. It has been held it is proper to require of one who seeks to challenge the legality of a search as the basis for suppressing relevant evidence that he allege, and if the allegation be disputed, that he establish that he himself was the victim of an invasion of privacy. To establish ‘standing’ this court has required 'the movant claim either to have owned or possessed the seized property, or to have had a possessory or proprietary interest in the premises searched. (State v. Edwards, 197 Kan. 146, 415 P. 2d 231; Wheeler v. State, 202 Kan. 134, 446 P. 2d 777; State v. Grimmett & Smith, 208 Kan. 324, 491 P. 2d 549; State v. Williamson, 210 Kan. 501, 502 P. 2d 777; State v. Masqua, 210 Kan. 419, 502 P. 2d 728.)
“The state has the burden of proving that a search and seizure is lawful (K. S. A. 1971 Supp. 22-3216[2]), however, under the statute, the movant must allege he was in fact aggrieved by the search and that his constitutional right to be secure in his property has been violated. In short, the movant is required by 22-3216 ( 2) to allege facts showing wherein the search and seizure was unlawful and establish he personally was aggrieved by the alleged illegal search and that his rights were prejudiced thereby.” (pp. 803-804.)
On this precise point the state argues in its brief:
“As reflected in the record on appeal, the issue of standing, along with the search and seizure issues, was submitted to the district court upon an agreed and stipulated statement of facts. There was no stipulation, however, that defendant/appellee had either a proprietary or possessory interest in the items seized or that he was ‘a person aggrieved’ by the search of Lakeview Village, both as required by Sumner, supra, and Boster [State v. Boster, 217 Kan. 618, 539 P. 2d 294]. Indeed, the record is devoid of any evidence which would refute this statement. Despite the absence of such a stipulation, the trial court found that the defendant/appellee did have standing. Long ago, this court held:
“ ‘Where the parties to an action pending in the district court submit the case to the court for decision and judgment upon an agreed statement of facts, it is error for the court to make findings of its own, differing from the agreed statement of facts, and then to render judgment upon its own findings.’ Brown v. Evans, Adm'r, 15 Kan. 88, Syl. 1 (1875).
Also see City of Wichita v. Boles, 156 Kan. 619, 621, 135 P. 2d 542 (1943).
“At the court hearing on defendant/appellee’s motions, other matters were brought before the court. At that occasion, the defendant/appellee went outside the stipulated statement of facts and submitted to the trial judge, sitting as the trier of fact, what purported to be his personal affidavit. That document was presumably tendered to the court as defendant/appellee’s self-serving statement that would ‘establish’ him as the victim of an invasion of privacy, so that he could then claim standing.
“To the above procedure, the State of Kansas strenuously made timely and specific objection. Despite the plaintiff/appellant’s objection, the trial court considered that purported affidavit as evidence and employed it in reaching its conclusion of law that the defendant/appellee had standing to challenge the searches.”
*262The foregoing, in my opinion, conclusively establishes that the state does not concede the defendant has standing to challenge the search and seizure of evidence from “Room B.”
If the foregoing and other statements in the state’s brief oan be construed as an admission that the defendant has standing to challenge 'the search and seizure of evidence from the defendant’s private desk, credenza and file cabinet in “Room B,” this court is not bound by such admission. The Supreme Court is not bound by an erroneous stipulation of law. (State v. Gregory, 218 Kan. 180, 187, 542 P. 2d 1051; Urban Renewal Agency v. Reed, 211 Kan. 705, Syl. 4, 508 P. 2d 1227; In re Estate of Maguire, 204 Kan. 686, Syl. 5, 466 P. 2d 358; and Beams v. Werth, 200 Kan. 532, Syl. 10, 438 P. 2d 957.) Otherwise, an erroneous concept oí the law espoused by one or more of the parties would bind the court to adopt an erroneous precedent.
Insofar as material to a discussion herein the journal entry of the trial court recites that it made the following findings of fact:
“1. That the stipulations of the parties numbered one through fourteen and the exhibits attached thereto are incorporated herein by reference and made the findings of this Court.
“2. The second search warrant issued on October 25, 1974, directs the officers to seize the personal papers and property of the defendant.
“3. The defendant claims a possessory interest in the materials seized.
“4. The defendant being the administrator of Lakeview Village, he claims that his office as administrator and the papers contained therein would not be subjected to governmental intrusion.
“5. The three locations which are authorized to be searched by the warrants in question are separate and distinct business premises which were not occupied or owned by the same persons.” (Emphasis added.)
On the foregoing findings the trial court concluded on the issue of “standing” as follows:
“1. Before the question of the validity of the warrant in question can be reached, it must be determined whether the defendant has standing to assert objections to the warrant purportedly justifying the search and seizure.
“2. This question arises because the search involved neither defendant’s person nor an area over which he had exclusive control at all times, but rather the offices! of a company by which he was employed.
“3. In order to qualify as a person aggrieved by a search and seizure, one must be the victim of an unlawful search and seizure, or, in other words, one against whom the search was directed, as distinguished from one who claims prejudice only through the use of evidence gathered as a consequence of a search or seizure directed at someone else. Jones v. United States, 362 U. S. 257 at 261 (1960).
“4. To establish ‘standing’ the courts have required the movant claim *263either to have owned or possessed the seized property or to have a possessory interest in the premises searched. Jones v. United States, supra.
“5. Movants may also establish ‘standing’ by showing that the area searched was one in which there was a reasonable expectation of freedom from governmental intrusion. Mancusi v. DeForte, 392 U. S. 364 (1968).
“6. In the present case, all of these elements are present in that the defendant was the person at whom the search was directed, he has a possessory interest in all of the items seized and an ownership interest in some of the items seized, and he had a reasonable expectation of freedom from governmental intrusion and, therefore, the defendant has standing to challenge the search warrants used in this matter.”
The decision of the United States Supreme Court in Katz v. United States, 389 U. S. 347, 19 L. Ed. 2d 576, 88 S. Ct. 507, makes it clear that capacity to claim the protection of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution depends not upon a property right in the invaded place but upon whether the area was one in which there was a reasonable expectation of freedom from governmental intrusion. (There is a veiled statement to this effect in State v. Sumner, supra, at page 804.)
Does the defendant in the instant case have a reasonable expectation of privacy in “Room B” which is a part of the administrative offices of Lakeview Village, Inc.?
Language from Mancusi v. DeForte, 392 U. S. 364, 20 L. Ed. 2d 1154, 88 S. Ct. 2120, which the majority opinion quotes, suggests that the defendant herein does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in “Room B.” There the United States Supreme Court said:
“. . . In such a ‘private’ office, DeForte would have been entitled to expect that he would not be disturbed except by personal or business invitees, and that records would not be taken except with his permission or that of his union superiors. ... It is, of course, irrelevant that the Union or some of its officials might validly have consented to a search of the area where the records were kept, regardless of DeForte’s wishes, for it is not claimed that any such consent was given, either expressly or by implication.” (pp. 369-370.) (Emphasis added.)
On the facts in the instant case it must be presumed that the employer consented to the search. This is inferred from the fact that the employer initiated the search.
Another case directly in point is State v. Zuehlke, 239 Wis. 111, 300 N. W. 746 (1941). There the defendant was charged with arson and the police went to the office of the department of agriculture where the defendant worked. The police asked for and received the permission of the defendant’s superior before searching the defendant’s desk. Memoranda regarding experiments as to the *264length of time a candle would burn and details of the plans that the defendant had in mind were obtained. The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the searoh and said:
“. . . His desk was property over which he could not exercise private control. This was not his castle nor was the possession of those papers at the time of their taking in any way connected with his person. ... He had no special property or possessory rights in the desk he was using and in no sense of these particular guarantees of the constitution could his rights be said to be invaded. . . .” (p. 117.)
Research has disclosed a number of related cases which uphold a warrantless search of an employee’s locker where the employer gave consent to the search. In United States v. Bunkers, 521 F. 2d 1217 (9th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 423 U. S. 989, 46 L. Ed. 2d 307, 96 S. Ct. 400, the court held a warrantless search of a government owned locker whioh was furnished to the employee incident to her employment and which was subject to search by postal inspectors and supervisors was not unreasonable. There the court recognized that the defendant “exhibited an aotual (subjective) expectation of privacy” by placing stolen C. O. D. parcels in the locker. The court, however, refused to believe society was prepared to recognize the defendant’s use of the government supplied employment-connected locker to hold in privacy the stolen C. O. D. parcels as reasonable.
If this court were to review the defendant’s self-serving affidavit in the instant case, it also demonstrates a subjective expectation of privacy by the defendant herein.
In Bunkers the postal manual made the lockers furnished to postal employees subject to search by supervisors and postal inspectors. A further ground for the holding in Bunkers was the defendant’s labor union’s agreement which permitted search of the government owned locker assigned to the defendant upon reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. This was said to be an effective relinquishment of the employee’s Fourth Amendment immunity in her work-connected use of the locker.
In Shaffer v. Field, 339 F. Supp. 997 (C. D. Cal. 1972), aff’d, 484 F. 2d 1196 (9th Cir. 1973), a search of a deputy sheriff’s locker was conducted, where the commander kept the master key and combinations to all locks. On at least three prior occasions deputies’ lockers had been searched by commanders without permission. There the defendant, a former deputy sheriff charged with murder, was held not to have had a constitutionally justifiable *265expectation of privacy in his locker, and a warrantless and an unconsented to search of his locker was held not to violate his right to privacy.
In United States v. Speights, 413 F. Supp. 1221 (D. N. J. 1976), it was held that a police officer did not have a constitutionally justified expectation of privacy with respect to a locker in police headquarters, which was owned by the police department and was made available primarily for storage of police equipment, and to which there was a master key available to superior officers (although the defendant’s locker had a private padlock on it). There the government did not challenge the defendant’s contention that he personally believed that the contents of his locker would remain private. The court noted in cases of this nature defendants inevitably believe that the area where the seizure occurred was beyond the intrusion of a search. On this point the court said, the issue presented is not whether the defendant personally felt that his locker would not be searched, rather the court was called upon to decide whether the defendant’s expectation of privacy as to the locker was constitutionally justified. Katz v. United States, supra, was cited as applying an objective standard in making this determination. An expectation of privacy was said to be justified if society is prepared to recognize it as reasonable.
Our own decision in State v. Stein, 203 Kan. 638, 456 P. 2d 1, cert. denied, 397 U. S. 947, 25 L. Ed. 2d 128, 90 S. Ct. 966, held a school locker assigned to a student, and over which the high school principal had custody, control and access by possessing a master list of all lock combinations and a key which would open every locker, was subject to search for contraband upon request of law enforcement officers without a warrant for the search.
A further Kansas case bearing on the point here in controversy is State v. Jakeway, 221 Kan. 142, 558 P. 2d 113.
United States v. Blok, 188 F. 2d 1019 (D. C. Cir. 1951), purports to support the court’s decision as to “Room B.” It holds that a search of an employee’s desk (assigned to the employee’s exclusive use) by police officers without a warrant and without the employee’s consent, but with the consent of the employee’s superiors, was an unreasonable search and an invasion of the employee’s constitutional right to privacy. It held evidence secured by such search could *266not be admitted in prosecution against the employee. In the opinion, however, the court said:
“. . . No doubt a search of it without her consent would have been reasonable if made by some people in some circumstances. Her official superiors might reasonably have searched the desk for official property needed for official use. . . .” (p. 1021.)
The Federal District Court in Shaffer v. Field, supra, at page 1002 said Blok seems to suggest that “if the defendant had been charged with a misdemeanor arising out of misconduct in connection with her employment, her superiors would have been justified in authorizing a search of the desk assigned to her.” (Emphasis added.) This is analogous to the facts presented in the instant case, thus distinguishing Blok.
On the facts in this case the administrative offices of Lakeview Village, Inc., had two main internal divisions to the offices. The larger area designated “Room A” was, during October 1974, a general office facility, undivided, and containing several secretarial and sales personnel desks, with no private offices. During the same period of time, “Room B,” a slightly smaller 'area, was also an office facility which contained a conference table, the defendant’s private desk, credenza and file cabinet. During October 1974, there was normally no restriction during regular business hours on the ingress or egress between Rooms A and B among any administrative employees at Lakeview Village. However, on occasion, the defendant could impose certain restrictions on the flow of traffic into and out of Room B, during his presence, but the defendant was not present when the search here was conducted. These facts, in my opinion, do not give the defendant standing to challenge the search of the corporate premises of Lakeview Village, including the private desk, credenza and file cabinet in Room B, for the purpose of seizing evidence to prove that the defendant embezzled money from his employer.
In my opinion, applying the objective standard to determine whether the defendant herein had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the facilities supplied to him by his employer in “Room B” to conduct the business affairs of Lakeview Village, Inc., the search was constitutionally justified without a warrant. The area wherein the seizure of evidence occurred was not beyond the in*267trusión of a search initiated by his employer. In my opinion, society is not prepared to recognize the expectation of privacy, on the facts in this case, as reasonable.
It is respectfully submitted the judgment of the trial court should be reversed in toto.
Fatzer, C. J., and Fromme, J., join in the foregoing dissenting opinion.