D.Haw.: Defendant’s arrest led to hotel evicting him, and the government could search his stuff

Defendant was legitimately evicted from his hotel room after his arrest by the FBI for sex trafficking. The hotel essentially had control over the power to evict. Also, when the officers were in the room, there was a plain view of some additional evidence. They also validly conducted a protective sweep of the room for a weapon. Defendant handed the FBI his car keys to be delivered to the other person in the room which brought them to the room. United States v. King, 693 F. Supp. 2d 1200 (D. Haw. 2010).*

The officer stopped the defendant’s vehicle without reasonable suspicion. The officer directed the passenger out of the car, and saw a holster inside the open door. A gun was observed under the vehicle, which the officer did not see put there. The gun would not be suppressed because the officer did not exploit any illegality. United States v. Elmore, 692 F. Supp. 2d 915 (E.D. Tenn. February 23, 2010):

The facts of this case, Magistrate Judge Shirley concluded, are distinguishable. First, the police officer did not take any additional active step in discovering the handgun, but only passively observed the handgun contemporaneously with the seizure. Second, the handgun was lying on the surface of an alleyway outside the defendant’s vehicle–an alleyway connecting a public street to a parking lot–and a location in which the defendant had no privacy interest. Moreover, the defendant did not, and has not since, claimed any privacy, possessory, or ownership interest in the handgun. Accordingly, Magistrate Judge Shirley found, the defendant cannot be said to have any privacy, possessory, or ownership interest violated by the police officer’s conduct.