Court Opinion

ID: 9468263
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:09:45.965192+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:47.359349
License: Public Domain

*1306EUGENE A. WRIGHT, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
With due respect for the views of my colleagues, I dissent.
The key issue remains whether Cleary had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of an open canvas bag. I conclude he did not.
Fourth Amendment protection against warrantless searches applies only if Cleary had a subjective expectation of privacy that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable and legitimate. Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 143-44 n.12, 99 S.Ct. 421, 430-31 n.12, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978). In considering reasonableness, a court must examine
whether a person invoking the protection of the Fourth Amendment took normal precautions to maintain his privacy — that is, precautions customarily taken by those seeking privacy.
Id. at 152, 99 S.Ct. at 435 (Powell, J., concurring).
A container that does not demonstrate this expectation may be searched with probable cause when it is lawfully obtained by the police. United States v. Mannino, 635 F.2d 110, 113 (2d Cir. 1980). Otherwise, a warrantless search is permissible only if a recognized exception to the warrant requirement applies. Id.
Cleary’s container was an open canvas bag with a broken zipper. It was approximately 12 inches high, 8 to 10 inches wide, and 18 inches long.1 The butt of a handgun was protruding from the top.
In United States v, Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 97 S.Ct. 2476, 53 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977), the Supreme Court held that Chadwick’s use of a double-locked footlocker “manifested an expectation that the contents would remain free from public examination.” Id. at 11, 97 S.Ct. at 2483. Absent exigency, search of it was unreasonable without a warrant.
In Arkansas v. Sanders, 442 U.S. 753, 99 S.Ct. 2586, 61 L.Ed.2d 235 (1979), the court found a manifestation of an expectation of privacy in an unlocked suitcase because it was traditionally a repository of personal items. The court recognized, however, that
some containers (for example a kit of burglar tools or a gun case) by their very nature cannot support any reasonable expectation of privacy because their contents can be inferred from their outward appearance. Similarly, in some cases the contents of a package will be open to ‘plain view,’ thereby obviating the need for a warrant.
Id. at 764-65 n.13, 99 S.Ct. at 2593-94 n.13.
In Robbins v. California, - U.S. -, 101 S.Ct. 2841, 69 L.Ed.2d 744 (1981), the conscious manifestation of an expectation of privacy proposition received majority support. However, there was disagreement *1307about how such a “manifestation” is to be gauged. The plurality declared a “bright-line” rule that the use of a closed, opaque container indicates in every case a manifestation of an expectation of privacy. However, it recognized the two exceptions already described in Sanders. As a legal matter, an expectation of privacy would not be deemed manifested where (1) the closed opaque container is suggestive of its contents, and (2) the container is open. Generally, the court said, the two exceptions describe occasions when the contents of the container have been left in “plain view.” Id. at -, 101 S.Ct. at 2846.2
Justice Powell concurred in the result but disagreed with the “bright-line” rule. He suggested that the manifestation of an expectation of privacy should be judged on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the container’s size, shape, material and condition, the context of its discovery, and whether its possessor has taken some significant precaution, such as locking, sealing, or binding to indicate a desire to prevent its contents from being displayed upon simple mischance. - n.3, 101 S.Ct. at 2850 n.3 (Powell, J., concurring).
Applying Justice Powell’s test to this case I do not find that Cleary manifested an expectation of privacy. His bag was not closed, sealed, secured, or secreted so as to signal any “significant precaution ... to prevent the contents from being displayed upon simple mischance.” Id.3
Moreover, Cleary’s bag comes within both Sanders exceptions. I see no difference between a canvas bag with a protruding gun and a gun case. Both suggest the presence of one or more guns. If the war-rantless search of the gun case for guns is proper, so is the warrantless search of the canvas bag.
Because the bag was open, it also comes within the second Sanders exception. To read Robbins as saying that the second Sanders exception requires any more than that the container be open would be contrary to the overwhelming weight of precedent since Sanders. With one exception, I have found no federal or state cases decided after Sanders that hold a reasonable expectation of privacy attaches to an open container.
The vast majority of cases finding a reasonable expectation of privacy involve containers that are closed,4 zipped shut,5 taped shut,6 or otherwise sealed or secured.7
*1308By contrast, an open flight bag,8 open paper bags,9 closed but unsealed paper or plastic bags,10 and other containers not normally used to transport personal items,11 *1309are not found to be attended by a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Finally, whatever expectation of privacy Cleary may have had in his canvas bag, if incident to arrest, the search may have been reasonable. United States v. Belton, - U.S. -, 101 S.Ct. 2860, 69 L.Ed.2d 768 (1981), announces a “bright-line” rule justified by the general confusion among courts and law enforcement officers regarding the scope of search incident to arrest in automobile cases.
The “workable definition” of that scope now is that the passenger compartment and any containers within, whether open or closed, may be searched without a warrant. The rule applies even where the defendant is not in the compartment or where the searched containers are not immediately accessible or beyond reach — i. e., the traditional Chimel rationale of officer protection does not necessarily underlie the new rule. Nor does the Court specify how long after arrest such a search remains valid.
In Cleary’s case, the bag was found between the two passenger seats of his van. Though the gun was withdrawn within the proximity of the van and just before Cleary’s formal arrest, the rest of the bag’s contents were not withdrawn until later. If we reached that issue, I would remand the case for a determination whether the subsequent search was incident to arrest in light of Belton. It is unnecessary to reach that issue, however, because Cleary had no expectation of privacy.
I would affirm Cleary’s conviction.

. The bag was not placed in evidence. The description of it is taken from the officer’s testimony.

. The majority’s reliance on the Robbins plain view language, see footnote 9 ante, seems to suggest a visibility test for which I do not believe there is support in Robbins. Such a test would mean that the contents of even an open, neutral container are protected so long as they are not immediately visible to an officer. Neither this court nor the Supreme Court has given “plain view” so restrictive a meaning. See Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 433, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971); United States v. Wheeler, 641 F.2d 1321 (1981). Certainly the result cannot turn upon the accidental positioning of the officer either to see or not see the contents of an open, nonsuggestive container. Likewise, the mere use of some neutral container does not denote an expectation of privacy. The test of Robbins must be whether the use of the container goes beyond mere convenience in transport of contents to the conscious hiding of the contents from public view.

. The majority recognizes a protected expectation of privacy in this bag because it concludes that the bag is a form of “personal luggage” within the meaning of Sanders. The majority defines “personal luggage” as items “commonly perceived as being designed for” carrying personal effects and which have a closing device. Without further discussion, it holds that the canvas bag meets this test.
This test is passe in light of Robbins, supra. There the Supreme Court made clear that the characterization of the container as personal luggage is irrelevant. -, 101 S.Ct. at 2845-46.

. See United States v. Ross, 655 F.2d 1159 (D.C.Cir., 1981) (en banc) (closed paper bag); United States v. Benson, 631 F.2d 1336, 1337 (8th Cir. 1980) (closed but unlocked leather tote bag); United States v. Bella, 605 F.2d 160 (5th Cir. 1979) (closed guitar case); United States v. Calandrella, 605 F.2d 236, 247 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 991, 100 S.Ct. 522, 62 L.Ed.2d 420 (1979) (closed briefcase); United States v. Gooch, 603 *1308F.2d 122, 125 (10th Cir. 1979) (closed briefcase); United States v. Meier, 602 F.2d 253, 255 (10th Cir. 1979) (closed but unlocked backpack); United States v. Johnson, 588 F.2d 147, 151-52 (5th Cir. 1979) (closed duffel bag); United States v. Schleis, 582 F.2d 1166, 1170 (8th Cir. 1978) (closed, combination locked briefcase); Matter of B.K.C., 413 A.2d 894 (D.C. 1980) (closed but unlocked briefcase); State v. Filipi, 297 N.W.2d 275 (Minn. 1980) (closed duffel bag); State v. Daniel, 589 P.2d 408 (Alaska 1979) (closed but unlatched briefcase); People v. Dalton, 24 Cal.3d 850, 157 Cal.Rptr. 497, 598 P.2d 467 (1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 946, 100 S.Ct. 1345, 63 L.Ed.2d 781 (1980) (closed metal box in trunk); State v. Delong, 602 P.2d 665 (Or. 1979) (closed camera case in trunk); State v. Groda, 285 Or. 321, 591 P.2d 1354 (1979) (closed briefcase in trunk). But see Liles v. State, 375 So.2d 1094 (Fla.App. 1979) (warrantless search of partially open leather or vinyl satchel unconstitutional because contents were not in plain view).

. See note 5 on page 1308.
*13085. See United States v. Ross, supra, note 4 (zippered leather pouch); United States v. Rigales, 630 F.2d 364, 366 (5th Cir. 1980) (zippered leather case); United States v. Garcia, 605 F.2d 349, 352 (7th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 984, 100 S.Ct. 2966, 64 L.Ed.2d 841 (1980) (zippered but unlocked suitcases; warrantless search permissible because of exigent circumstances); United States v. Haley, 581 F.2d 723, 725 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1005, 99 S.Ct. 618, 58 L.Ed.2d 681 (1978) (zippered leather briefcase; warrantless search permissible because of exigent circumstances); Commonwealth v. Timko, 417 A.2d 620 (Pa. 1980) (zippered valise); People v. Minjares, 24 Cal.3d 410, 153 Cal.Rptr. 224, 591 P.2d 514, cert. denied, 444 U.S. 887, 100 S.Ct. 181, 62 L.Ed.2d 117 (1979) (zippered tote bag); State v. Hassapelis, 404 A.2d 232 (Me. 1979) (zippered gym bag). But see United States v. Markland, 635 F.2d 174, 177 (2d Cir. 1980) (warrantless search of zippered vinyl Schlitz beverage bag permissible because bag not normally used for transporting personal items and no objective step taken to signal privacy; zipping shut not enough).

. See note 6 on page 1308.
*13086. See United States v. Dien, 609 F.2d 1038, 1045 (2d Cir. 1979), adhered to on rehearing, 615 F.2d 10 (2d Cir. 1980) (taped cardboard box behind the driver’s seat inside a van, the windows of which had been painted over); United States v. O’Campo, 492 F.Supp. 1211 (E.D.N.Y. 1980) (taped cardboard box in trunk); United States v. Rivera, 486 F.Supp. 1025 (N.D.Tex. 1980) (securely taped plastic garbage bags); Cooper v. Commonwealth, 577 S.W.2d 34 (Ky. 1979) (heavily taped razor case under front seat; warrantless search permissible because of exigent circumstances and lesser intrusion than impoundment). But see United States v. Blair, 493 F.Supp. 398 (D.Md. 1980) (warrant-less search of taped cardboard boxes permissible because boxes are not repositories of personal effects).

. See note 7 on page 1308.
*13087. See Walters v. United States, 447 U.S. 649, 100 S.Ct. 2395, 65 L.Ed.2d 410 (1980) (securely wrapped and sealed cartons); United States v. Presler, 610 F.2d 1206, 1212 (4th Cir. 1979) (securely locked briefcases); State v. Blais, 416 A.2d 1253 (Me. 1980) (rolled up, opaque plastic bag in trunk); Liichow v. State, 419 A.2d 1041, 1042 (Md. 1980) (large, semi-opaque plastic bag “crumpled together on top of the open end,” wrapped around defendant’s arm, and being held by his other arm); Pirner v. State, 411 A.2d 135 (Md. 1980) (duffle bag under carpet under passenger seat); State v. White, 94 N.M. 687, 615 P.2d 1004 (1980) (sealed cardboard boxes and onion or sugar sacks tied at the top in the trunk); State v. Grundy, 25 Wash.App. 411, 607 P.2d 1235 (1980) (padlocked footlocker); State v. Schrier, 283 N.W.2d 338 (Iowa 1979) (latched knapsack; warrantless search permissible after seeing contents when pushed flap aside without unlatching).

. See O’Campo, supra note 6 (warrantless search of open and unsecured flight bag permissible).

. See United States v. Honigman, 633 F.2d 1336 (9th Cir. 1980) (open Safeway paper bag); United States v. Mannino, 635 F.2d 110 (2d Cir. 1980) (open white plastic bag).

. See United States v. Foskey, 636 F.2d 517 (D.C. Cir. 1980) (brown paper bag fastened around the neck of a gas pipe in an automobile); United States v. Brown, 635 F.2d 1207 (6th Cir. 1980) (closed but unsealed paper bag); United States v. Portillo, 633 F.2d 1313, 1315-1316 (9th Cir. 1980) (closed paper bag). But see United States v. Ross, supra note 4 (expectation of privacy attaches to closed but unsealed paper bag).

. See Vogel v. State, No. 3, slip op. (Ct. App.Ala., October 28, 1980) (warrantless search of army-type duffel bags stuffed with brick-shaped objects permissible because contraband obvious); Burkett v. State, 607 S.W.2d 399 (Ark. 1980) (no expectation of privacy in burlap bags in locked trunk because they are not repositories of personal effects); Flynn v. State, 374 So.2d 1041 (Fla.App. 1979) (placing items in black plastic garbage bags fails to manifest expectation of privacy).