Court Opinion

ID: 9855807
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:31:26.940327+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:37:04.759129
License: Public Domain

HALEY, J.,
dissenting.
I.
I respectfully dissent.
It is fundamental that an individual may only assert a Fourth Amendment violation if he has “a reasonable expectation of privacy” in the place searched or location where he is arrested. Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 130, 99 S.Ct. 421, 423, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978); Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 351, 88 S.Ct. 507, 511, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967); Delong v. Commonwealth, 234 Va. 357, 363, 362 S.E.2d 669, 672 (1987), *229cert. denied, 485 U.S. 929, 108 S.Ct. 1100, 99 L.Ed.2d 263 (1988); Hardy v. Commonwealth, 17 Va.App. 677, 680, 440 S.E.2d 434, 436 (1994).1
It is likewise established that in support of a motion to suppress, the defendant has the burden of proving he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the place searched or the location where he is arrested. Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 104, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 2561, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980); Barnes v. Commonwealth, 234 Va. 130, 135, 360 S.E.2d 196, 200 (1987); Sharpe v. Commonwealth, 44 Va.App. 448, 455, 605 S.E.2d 346, 349 (2004). “[I]n order to claim the protection of the Fourth Amendment, a defendant must demonstrate that he personally has an expectation of privacy in the place searched____” Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S. 83, 88, 119 S.Ct. 469, 472, 142 L.Ed.2d 373 (1998) (emphasis added).
Succinctly stated, the establishment of a reasonable expectation of privacy is a condition precedent to asserting the protection of the Fourth Amendment, and the defendant has the burden of production, the burden of presenting evidence supporting that expectation.
II.
With respect to the motion to suppress in the instant case, only two witnesses testified, Marilyn Elizabeth Adams and Officer Jerry Pace. Ms. Adams was a resident in the rooming house, in room one on the first floor. She testified the rooming house had three floors, with “about” fifteen tenants, was owned by a James Gunn, and appellant lived “all way upstairs in the attic.”2 Upon being asked how long appellant *230had lived in the rooming house, she replied: “I’m not sure ... about two or three weeks.” She testified that there was a “No trespassing” sign and a sign which said either “knock” or “ring” for entry, both of which were posted on the glass in the front door. At the time appellant and a Joyce Searles entered the rooming house, and when Officer Pace followed less than “five minutes” later, Ms. Adams testified she was “standing in the [open front] doorway.” She knew that Joyce Searles was not a resident of the rooming house and had entered with appellant to consummate a drug transaction. She testified that Officer Pace passed by her in the open doorway, saying only “good evening,” and that she said nothing to him.
Officer Pace testified he thought appellant was one Chappell, for whom there were outstanding arrest warrants. He did not see either the “No trespassing” or “ring” (or knock) to enter signs, presumably because they were posted on the glass of the front door, which he testified, in accordance with Ms. Adams, was “standing open.” He did testify, however, that there was “a sign hanging on like a lamp post or something out front that says ‘Rooms.’” He testified he knew the building was a rooming house and had been inside before. After entering the front door, there was a central hallway, with rooms on each side, whieh led to a stairway. Officer Pace said he walked down the hallway, rounded a bend in the stairway leading to the second floor, and saw appellant and Searles standing above him on the second floor stairway landing. It was at this location that Officer Pace saw the appellant holding, and then dropping, the “rock” of cocaine.
Thus, the issue in the motion to suppress was whether appellant had met his burden of production, of producing *231evidence to show he had “a reasonable expectation of privacy” on the second floor stairway landing. I submit he did not.
III.
The majority cites State v. Titus, 707 So.2d 706 (Fla.1998), for the proposition that a resident can have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a rooming house. That case was an appeal from a decision of the Court of Appeals of Florida, Fourth District, reported as Titus v. State, 696 So.2d 1257 (1997). It is clear from that decision that the defendant produced evidence in his motion to suppress supporting a conclusion that he in fact had a reasonable expectation of privacy in a rooming house common kitchen. “The residents testified that the house is, effectually, private for the tenants and their guests, and that the kitchen is available for use only by the tenants. In fact, some of the tenants store personal belongings in the kitchen.” Id. at 1258.
The majority also cites Bryant v. United States, 599 A.2d 1107 (D.C.App.1991). Again, however, the court noted:
The evidence shows that 4621 Georgia Avenue was not obviously a rooming house open to the public____ [T]he 4600 block of Georgia Avenue had private homes, not apartment buildings.... At the suppression hearing Sergeant McGuire explained that “once inside the house, it turned out to be a rooming house” ... [and there was] ... proof of appellant’s “authority to exclude others from the area entered and searched.... ” Appellant testified that the tenants shared the use of the kitchen, and nothing in the record suggests that the residents had relinquished their authority to exclude uninvited persons from the kitchen and adjoining areas.
599 A.2d at 1109-10.
Likewise, in citing United States v. Booth, 455 A.2d 1351 (D.C.App.1983), the majority does not address the evidence adduced by the defendant.
[T]he rooming house ... and thus its front hallway—was not open to the general public. Indeed, we note that Officer *232Terrell, upon his arrival, did not even perceive that 1620 Swann Street, N.W. was a rooming house. Thus, if a stranger appeared at the front door, appellees, as residents, had authority, and were in a position, to deny entry.
455 A.2d at 1354.
IV.
Momentarily setting aside the question of the burden of production of evidence supportive of a reasonable expectation of privacy in the hallways or stairwells of an apartment or rooming house, it should be noted that a number of courts have held that as a matter of law, there can be no such expectation in such areas.
In United States v. Anderson, 533 F.2d 1210, 1214 (D.C.Cir. 1976), the Federal Court of Appeals, as quoted by the majority, held:
“When the police officers entered the rooming house they did not enter appellant’s private dwelling; instead they merely entered the common corridors of the building, which were available to residents of the rooming house, their guests, people making deliveries, and others who had a legitimate reason to be on the premises. Consequently, insofar as appellant maintains that he had a constitutionally protected reasonable expectation of privacy in the corridors of the rooming house, we disagree; appellant’s constitutionally protected privacy interest began at the door to room eight rather than at the door to the entire rooming house.”
The majority of federal courts have reached that conclusion. See United States v. Nohara, 3 F.3d 1239, 1241 (9th Cir.1993) (“we conclude that any expectation Nohara might have had [in an apartment hallway] is not one that society recognizes as reasonable”); United States v. Barros-Moriera, 872 F.2d 12, 14 (2d Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 953, 110 S.Ct. 364, 107 L.Ed.2d 350 (1989) (“Here the police entry was into a common [apartment] hallway, an area where there is no legitimate expectation of privacy ... even though the area was guarded by a locked door.”); United States v. Concepcion, 942 F.2d *2331170, 1172 (7th Cir.1991) (apartment common areas); United States v. Eisler, 567 F.2d 814, 816 (8th Cir.1977) (apartment hallway); United States v. Cruz Pagan, 537 F.2d 554, 558 (1st Cir.1976) (apartment garage).
V.
In McCoy v. Commonwealth, 2 Va.App. 309, 312, 343 S.E.2d 383, 385 (1986), this Court held that the defendant visiting in an apartment did not therein have such a reasonable expectation of privacy, noting, inter alia, that “the evidence ... failed to show ... [that appellant possessed] ... a right to exclude others from the premises____” (Emphasis added). The Court recognized that it was the defendant’s burden to produce evidence supportive of his claim of a reasonable expectation of privacy.
In the instant case, as summarized above, the uncontradicted evidence shows that (1) the door to the rooming house was open, thereby presumably hiding a view of any signs posted upon it, and concomitantly permitting entry by anyone; (2) a sign posted outside the front of the rooming house read “Rooms”; any reasonable inference from that sign must include the proposition that it was an invitation to enter and inquire as to the availability of a room to let, and an invitation open to the public; (3) Ms. Adams claimed no ownership or managerial or residential authority to exclude, or not exclude, anyone from the rooming house, and said nothing to Officer Pace as he entered; and (4) Officer Pace knew the building was a rooming house when he entered, having previously been to the location. That being said, there is no evidence whatsoever as to any rules or agreements or practices, from any source, such as the owner or manager or residents, with respect to whom, or under what conditions, one could enter, or not enter, the rooming house and its common areas. Finally, the appellant offered no evidence “that he personally [had] an expectation of privacy” in the second story stairwell landing. Carter, 525 U.S. at 88, 119 S.Ct. at 472 (emphasis added).
*234VI.
In Sharpe, 44 Va.App. at 454, 605 S.E.2d at 349, this Court stated:
On appeal of a ruling on a motion to suppress, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, here the Commonwealth, granting to the evidence all reasonable inferences deducible therefrom. Commonwealth v. Grimstead, 12 Va.App. 1066, 1067, 407 S.E.2d 47, 48 (1991). “[W]e are bound by the trial court’s findings of historical fact unless ‘plainly wrong’ or without evidence to support them,” McGee v. Commonwealth, 25 Va.App. 193, 198, 487 S.E.2d 259, 261 (1997) (en banc), but we review de novo the trial court’s application of defined legal standards such as whether a defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy sufficient to permit him to raise a Fourth Amendment challenge to a search, United States v. Gordon, 168 F.3d 1222, 1225 (10th Cir.1999).
Applying that standard, I would hold the appellant failed to produce evidence sufficient to prove that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the second floor stairwell landing of the rooming house. I would affirm the ruling of the trial court denying the motion to suppress and, accordingly, the conviction of the appellant.

. In Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, for analytical purposes, the establishment of "a reasonable expectation of privacy” has replaced the classic concept of asserting “standing.” See Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S. 83, 85, 119 S.Ct. 469, 471, 142 L.Ed.2d 373 (1998); Rakas, 439 U.S. at 139-40, 99 S.Ct. at 428.

. Presumably, appellant did have a reasonable expectation of privacy "in the attic,” if that in fact was his personal residence. "[T]he occupant of a room in a boarding house ... is entitled to constitutional *230protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.” Stoner v. California, 376 U.S. 483, 490, 84 S.Ct. 889, 893, 11 L.Ed.2d 856 (1964). This Court had likewise affirmed such an expectation with respect to motel rooms. See McCary v. Commonwealth, 36 Va.App. 27, 36, 548 S.E.2d 239, 243-44 (2001); Jones v. Commonwealth, 16 Va.App. 725, 727, 432 S.E.2d 517, 518 (1993); Servis v. Commonwealth, 6 Va.App. 507, 514, 371 S.E.2d 156, 159 (1988).