Court Opinion

ID: 9793379
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:46:36.692926+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:04:40.167149
License: Public Domain

RICHARDSON, J.
I respectfully dissent.
In my view, under the facts of the present case the officer’s search of defendant’s vehicle was valid by reason of the “automobile exception” to the warrant requirement. (See People v. Chavers (1983) 33 Cal.3d 462 [189 Cal.Rptr. 169, 658 P.2d 96].) The majority holds, however, that “a motor home ... is not subject to the ‘automobile exception.’” (Ante, p. 610.) Considering the necessity for careful guidance to law enforcement, I have several objections to that generalization.
First, the majority fails to define its terms. What precisely are “motor homes”? They are almost infinitely variable in size, shape, design, access, and visibility. Some of the smaller ones are the most enclosed. Others are separately attached as trailers, while still others have direct access from the driver’s cab. Is a camper or recreational vehicle a “motor home”? What about a large van or truck? As we explained so recently in Chavers, “there is a demonstrable need for clear guidelines by which the police can gauge and regulate their conduct, rather than a complex set of rules dependent upon the particular facts . . . .” (33 Cal.3d at p. 469.) Although the majority uses the term as if it were readily understood, I find no definition either in statute or dictionary.
Moreover, the majority implies that any motorized vehicle which also serves as a “residence” would be afforded constitutional protection as a “motor home.” Some people live in the cab of a truck. For others, “home” may be a sleeping bag thrown in the back of a pickup truck. The interior of many vehicles is obscured by tinted glass or shades or Venetian blinds. Does this fact alone establish the vehicle as a “residence” for Fourth Amendment purposes? If it does not, how then are police officers to determine that a protectible “residential” use actually exists without first entering the vehicle? If a motor home is a residence, what is the address of the residence?
*615We are concerned, here, with matters of degree. I fully agree that definitions are difficult and that those who “reside” or “live” in a motorized vehicle have a heightened expectation of privacy, but broad generalizations are not useful. While protecting the citizens from unreasonable police intrusions, we also should recognize the difficulty facing law enforcement in balancing its obligation to protect the general public from criminal depredation.
In my view, if the facts reasonably indicate to the investigating officers that the vehicle is currently being used primarily as a residence rather than for transportation purposes, then the “automobile exception” would be inapplicable. Such residential use might be indicated by the attachment to exterior utility services, for example. On the other hand, if the facts reasonably disclose no such residential use, or if they indicate that such use is secondary or collateral to transportation purposes, then the exception should apply. The reason for the “exigency” exception, the full mobility of a motor vehicle, has equal application to “motor homes.” With most motor homes, the “residence” can be three states away in a matter of hours.
In the present case, defendant’s “motor home” was parked on a weekday afternoon in a downtown vehicular public parking lot near commercial enterprises, rather than in a neighborhood mobilehome park or other usual facility indicating current residential use. To me, a “motor home” parked in a public parking lot is more “vehicle” than “residence.” Of course, it may be both and I readily acknowledge that we are working in gray areas. However, given the time of day and the location of defendant’s vehicle, the officers reasonably could assume that it was then being used primarily, predominantly and principally for transportation uses. Accordingly, the search was valid.
I would affirm the judgment.
Respondent’s petition for a rehearing was denied October 6, 1983. Richardson, J., was of the opinion that the petition should be granted.