Court Opinion

ID: 9531028
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:06:33.22644+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:19.467657
License: Public Domain

Baker, J.
(dissenting) — The fourth amendment to the United States Constitution protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures. The protection afforded our citizens by this fundamental constitutional right "depends not upon a property right in the invaded place but upon whether the person who claims the protection of the Amendment has a legitimate expectation of privacy in the invaded *224place." Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 143, 58 L. Ed. 2d 387, 99 S. Ct. 421 (1978).
In holding that Cleator had no legitimate expectation of privacy in the tent, the majority focuses on the fact that neither Cleator nor his companion had permission to erect the tent on public property. In Rakas, however, the Supreme Court made clear that one's Fourth Amendment rights could no longer be determined by blind adherence to such outmoded property-rights-based considerations as whether one is legitimately on the premises. While one's status as trespasser, licensee or invitee clearly has some bearing on the legitimacy of one's expectation of privacy, mechanistic application of the property-rights test has been rejected in favor of an inquiry into whether the expectation of privacy is legitimate and one that society is willing to recognize. See Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 19 L. Ed. 2d 576, 88 S. Ct. 507 (1967).
In State v. Mooney, 218 Conn. 85, 588 A.2d 145, cert. denied,_U.S._, 116 L. Ed. 2d 270, 112 S. Ct. 330 (1991), for example, the Supreme Court of Connecticut held that while a homeless defendant did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the general area underneath a highway bridge abutment which the defendant regarded as his home, the defendant did have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of a duffel bag and cardboard box located under the bridge abutment. This latter holding rested on the court's recognition of society's "general understanding that the contents of luggage and other closed containers are entitled to remain private." Mooney, at 99.
In this case, Cleator had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the tent, just as the defendant in Mooney had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the duffel bag and box. First, Cleator exhibited his subjective expectation of privacy by storing his personal belongings in the tent and securing the tent by zipping the mesh door and lowering an opaque flap down over the door when he left for the day. Second, such an expectation of privacy is reasonable and one that *225society has already demonstrated it is willing to recognize. See, e.g., State v. Mooney, supra (homeless person has legitimate expectation of privacy in contents of duffel bag and cardboard box); State v. Pentecost, 64 Wn. App. 656, 660 n.3, 825 P.2d 365 (1992) (recognizing in dicta that while a trespasser has no legitimate expectation of privacy in the unenclosed items left around a campsite, "[a] different question is presented where items are enclosed in a suitcase or some other container"); Tukwila v. Nalder, 53 Wn. App. 746, 770 P.2d 670 (1989) (reasonable expectation of privacy in toilet stall of a public restroom).
To hold that Cleator had no legitimate expectation of privacy inside the tent means just that — he could not even validly object to a search of the tent if he had been present at the time. This was not a case of trespassers illegally occupying public or private property in face of a legal directive to leave. This was open, publicly owned forest with no record indication that tents were prohibited. Tents are by nature intended to protect against the elements and provide a measure of privacy. I believe that societal norms recognize that expectation of privacy.
Because Cleator had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the tent, the guaranties of the Fourth Amendment apply. Accordingly, the warrantless search must be justified by one of the closely and jealously guarded exceptions to the warrant requirement. While the officer testified that he lifted the tent flap for purposes of officer safety, the record in this case does not support such a claim. When the officer called out, there was no reply, nor was there any other indication that anyone was in the area. Compare United States v. Rigsby, 943 F.2d 631 (6th Cir. 1991) (warrantless search of tent by lifting unzipped flap justified as a "protective sweep" where officers had reason to believe an armed individual was in the immediate area), cert. denied,_U.S._, 117 L. Ed. 2d 496, 112 S. Ct. 1269 (1992).
The role of the neutral and detached magistrate under the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement ensures that the *226element of police discretion in conducting searches will be minimized. As Justice Stewart wrote in Katz,
[tjhese considerations do not vanish when the search in question is transferred from the setting of a home, an office, or a hotel room to that of a telephone booth. Wherever a man may be, he is entitled to know that he will remain free from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Katz, 389 U.S. at 359. I would hold that Cleator had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the tent and that the warrantless search was not justified.
Reconsideration denied October 6, 1993.
Review denied at 123 Wn.2d 1024 (1994).