{"id":3096,"date":"2009-05-24T18:57:44","date_gmt":"2009-04-27T09:57:24","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-04-27T09:57:24","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=3096","title":{"rendered":"CA4: Putting a key into a lock just to see if it fits is reasonable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taking a key from defendant and inserting it in a lock to determine whether it worked, without entering, was reasonable. Whether it is a search did not have to be decided. United States v. Daniels<\/a>, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 8501 (4th Cir. April 21, 2009) (unpublished):<\/p>\n

Among the items seized from Daniels on the night of March 3, 2005, was a key which the officers had reason to believe could access Apartment 106 of 1305 Kelston Place. (J.A. 749.) While Daniels originally consented to the detectives’ use of the key to access the residence, he ultimately revoked his consent. (J.A. 173, 749.) Later the officers inserted the key into the door lock of Apartment 106, which was accessible to the public. The officers turned the key to confirm that it operated the lock but did not enter the apartment. (J.A. 136.) Daniels argues that the detectives’ conduct in inserting the key into the lock constituted an unreasonable warrantless search in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.<\/p>\n

Our sister circuits are not in accord on whether a defendant has a reasonable expectation of privacy in an external door lock accessible from a public space. The First and Sixth Circuits have ruled that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in such a lock and that the insertion and turning of a key therein does not constitute a search. See United States v. Salgado, 250 F.3d 438, 456-57 (6th Cir. 2001); United States v. Lyons, 898 F.2d 210, 213 (1st Cir. 1990). The Seventh Circuit, on the other hand, has concluded that there is a reasonable expectation of privacy in a keyhole because a keyhole contains information that is not readily accessible to strangers. United States v. Concepcion, 942 F.2d 1170, 1172 (7th Cir. 1991).<\/p>\n

We need not rule on the precise issue of whether the officers’ insertion and turning of a key into the door lock of Apartment 106 contravened the Fourth Amendment, because even if we assume that it was a search, it was not unreasonable. The officers’ action was a means of identifying the apartment as one to which the defendant had access. The officers employed a legitimate crime investigative procedure that far outweighed whatever minimal intrusion that Daniels may have experienced. In this respect, the act is similar to the use of a narcotic detection dog to “sniff” personal luggage–a non-intrusive procedure that has been deemed constitutional. United States v. Place<\/a>, 462 U.S. 696, 706-07, 103 S. Ct. 2637, 77 L. Ed. 2d 110 (1983). Indeed, we are aware of no precedent that has determined such conduct to be unreasonable, for as the Seventh Circuit observed in Concepcion, “the privacy interest [in a keyhole] is so small that the officers do not need probable cause to inspect it.” Id. at 1173. We therefore affirm the district court’s finding that Daniels’ Fourth Amendment rights were not infringed by the officers’ use of a key in the door lock of Apartment 106.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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