OR: Trash collector could segregate def’s trash for police

Defendant’s trash was segregated by the private contractor working for the city on defendants’ collection days. That is virtually indistinguishable from State v. Howard, 204 Ore. App. 438, 129 P.3d 792 (2006), aff’d, 342 Ore. 635, 157 P.3d 1189 (2007), at least not enough to matter. The court distinguished mail removed from the ordinary course of delivery where there are higher privacy rights: State v. Barnthouse, 360 Ore. 403, 419, 380 P.3d 952 (2016). Under the state constitution, once the trash is out for collection, it’s fair game. With trash, it’s going to the dump; mail is going to a house. State v. Lien, 283 Ore. App. 334, 2017 Ore. App. LEXIS 2 (Jan. 5, 2017). [Note: The result would be the same under the Fourth Amendment. Note also that Oregon seldom cites the Fourth Amendment because its search and seizure jurisprudence is considerably different and insulated from SCOTUS review.]