Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

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Hector Rivera and Angel Rodriguez were in a long standing feud concerning Rivera's wife. Rodriguez was shot in the leg by Rivera and an arrest warrant was issued for his arrest. Before Rivera could be arrested, Rodriguez pulled alongside a vehicle occupied by Rivera and his friend Gilberto, and fatally shot both occupants.

Police acted upon information from informants that Rodriguez had committed the murder and went to interview him. A Mazda automobile was parked in front of Rodriguez residence and the police officers stated that Rodriguez said the car was his but it didn't run. The police ran a DMV records check on the car but ownership in the vehicle had been relinquished and the vehicle was not registered. The police obtained a warrant to search the car and found four .44 caliber bullets on the floor of the vehicle. The bullets displayed similar characteristics to the bullet's taken from the victim's bodies. Rodriguez made a motion to suppress the evidence.

The state argues that Rodriguez can not challenge the search because he did not have title or registration for the car and thus no "ownership" of the car and therefore he could not have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in its contents. Does Rodriguez have a "legitimate expectation of privacy" in the car's contents?

See Connecticut v. Rodriguez, 613 A.2d 211.

Ron Skufca
Wake Forest

ANSWERS
Reasonable expectation of privacy standard is a two-part test.  (1) The Defendant must have an actual subjective expectation of privacy and (2) The expectation must be objectively recognized by society as reasonable.  In Rodriguez, the Court held that the defendant did have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the unregistered vehicle parked in front of his home, but there was sufficient probable cause to obtain a warrant.