Inspections under HUD regulations written into a lease were not an unreasonable search nor was it alleged that any inspections were unreasonably done

Brief inspections of housing units under HUD regulations written into a lease were not an unreasonable search nor was it alleged that any inspections were unreasonably done. Therefore, the Fourth Amendment was not violated. Echemendia v. Gene B. Glick Management Corporation, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20118 (N.D. Ind. March 20, 2007).*

Defendant had no standing to challenge the seizure of a disposable camera from a vehicle that was not his and he was not around that was accidentally left there by his father. United States v. Fischer, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20149 (D. Minn. March 20, 2007):

At the suppression hearing, Cruze testified that the disposable camera was on the floor of the Suburban’s cargo area and had no markings to identify an owner. Defendant testified that he left the camera in an overnight bag in the Suburban and that he expected his father to take the bag home. It is undisputed that the camera belonged to defendant. Defendant argues that he had a possessory interest in the camera and an expectation of privacy in the undeveloped film because he purposefully left the camera in his father’s Suburban. He claims that the warrantless search for the camera and the development of the film constituted violations of his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unlawful search and seizure. The magistrate judge rejected defendant’s arguments and concluded that he does not have standing to challenge the seizure.

To have standing under the Fourth Amendment to challenge the lawfulness of a seizure, a defendant bears the burden to prove that he had a legitimate expectation of privacy that was violated by the challenged search. Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 134 (1978); United States v. Muhammad, 58 F.3d 353, 355 (8th Cir. 1995). Specifically, a defendant must demonstrate that he had a subjective expectation of privacy that “society is prepared to recognize as objectively reasonable.” Muhammad, 58 F.3d at 355. In rejecting defendant’s argument, the magistrate judge considered the factors enunciated in United States v. Gomez, 16 F.3d 254 (8th Cir. 1994), and concluded that defendant lacked a subjective expectation of privacy because his “lack of possessory interest and failure to regulate access to the camera outweigh his ownership and historical use of the camera.” (R&R at 8.) Nonetheless assuming a subjective possessory interest, the magistrate judge further concluded such a possessory interest is not one society would accept as objectively reasonable. The court agrees.

The unmarked, disposable camera was seized from a vehicle that did not belong to defendant, defendant was not present when it was seized and there is no evidence that he made any efforts to identify the camera as belonging to him or inform law enforcement officials that he was claiming ownership. There was no testimony that anyone present the night the Suburban was seized identified defendant as having been present or having a connection to any of the items located within the vehicle. Had defendant desired to stake a possessory interest in the camera, he had eight months to make an attempt to do so. The film was ultimately developed in preparation for the separate criminal trial of the owner of the vehicle, his father. Although defendant emphasizes his personal relationship with the vehicle’s owner, even as a passenger “a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in an automobile belonging to another.” United States v. Green, 275 F.3d 694, 699 (8th Cir. 2001). Therefore, the court adopts the magistrate judge’s recommendation and denies defendant’s motion to suppress evidence.

Defendant did not consent to his continued detention, but it was based on reasonable suspicion. United States v. Robinson, 221 Fed. Appx. 236 (4th Cir. 2007)* (unpublished).

Plaintiff showed sufficient facts to survive summary judgment that deadly force was not justified in killing plaintiff’s decedent. Also, the factbound inquiry defeats defendants’ qualified immunity claim. Estate of Smith v. City of Wilmington, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20314 (D. Del. March 22, 2007).*

Defendant’s staleness argument fails because the information in the affidavit showed a continuous pattern of behavior. The good faith exception would have saved the search anyway. Defendant’s claim that the timestamp on the faxed copy of the warrant being 9 minutes earlier than the judge signed it doesn’t seem to prove much. There was no indication that the judge did not review the information in support of the warrant. United States v. Anton, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20420 (N.D. Fla. March 22, 2007).