Commonwealth v. Fuller

88 Va. Cir. 305
CourtBuchanan County Circuit Court
DecidedJune 9, 2014
DocketCase Nos. 118-11, 119-11, 120-11, 121-11; Case Nos. 122-11, 123-11, 124-11, 125-11
StatusPublished

This text of 88 Va. Cir. 305 (Commonwealth v. Fuller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Buchanan County Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Fuller, 88 Va. Cir. 305 (Va. Super. Ct. 2014).

Opinion

By Judge Patrick R. Johnson

The above-styled case is now before the Court following Defendants’ Nusbaum and Riner Petition for Reconsideration. The parties have provided the Court with substantial written briefs on the issues surrounding the instant Motion to Suppress, and the parties convened for two oral hearings, on November 7,2012, and March 26,2014. In light of the arguments raised at both hearings, the Court makes the following ruling.

[306]*306“[I]t is a cardinal principal that ‘searches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment’.” Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 390, 98 S. Ct. 2408, 2412, 57 L. Ed. 2d 290 (1978) (quoting Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S. Ct. 507, 514, 19 L. Ed. 2d 576 (1967)); see also Vass v. Commonwealth, 214 Va. 740, 743, 204 S.E.2d 280, 283 (1974). In the present case, it is without question that Officer Childress’ conduct on the curtilage of the property without a warrant is a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Cf. California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207, 212-13, 106 S. Ct. 1809, 1812, 90 L. Ed. 2d 210 (1986); Jefferson v. Commonwealth, 27 Va. App. 1, 15-16, 497 S.E.2d 474, 481 (1998). Therefore, admissibility of the challenged evidence in each case turns on three issues: (i) whether the defendant had a legitimate expectation of privacy, i.e. Fourth Amendment standing, in the area searched, (ii) whether Officer Childress’ warrantless search was reasonable, and (iii) if a defendant had a legitimate expectation of privacy and the search was unreasonable, whether the exclusionary rule should be applied to exclude the evidence derived from the unconstitutional conduct.

I. Fourth Amendment Standing

“Fourth Amendment rights are personal rights, and . . . they may be enforced by exclusion of evidence only at the instance of one whose own protection was infringed by the search and seizure.” Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 389, 88 S. Ct. 967, 974, 19 L. Ed. 2d 1247 (1968). An individual’s ability to invoke those rights “is more properly placed within the purview of substantive Fourth Amendment law than within that of standing.” Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 140, 99 S. Ct. 421, 428, 58 L. Ed. 2d 387 (1978); Delong v. Commonwealth, 234 Va. 357, 363, 362 S.E.2d 669, 672 (1987).

In order to claim protection of the Fourth Amendment, a defendant must demonstrate that he personally has an expectation of privacy in the place searched and that his expectation is reasonable, i.e. one that has “a source outside of the Fourth Amendment, either by reference to concepts of real or personal property law or to understandings that are recognized and permitted by society.”

Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S. 83, 88, 119 S. Ct. 469, 472, 142 L. Ed. 2d 373 (1998) (quoting Rakas, 439 U.S. at 143-44, 99 S. Ct. at 430-31); Megel v. Commonwealth, 262 Va. 531, 534, 551 S.E.2d 638, 640 (2001) (“Whether a person has the right to claim the protection of the Fourth Amendment depends upon whether the person has a legitimate expectation of privacy in the place searched.”). The individuals asserting their Fourth Amendment [307]*307rights bear the burden of showing a legitimate expectation of privacy in the place searched. Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 104, 100 S. Ct. 2556, 2561, 65 L. Ed. 2d 633 (1980); Barnes v. Commonwealth, 234 Va. 130, 135, 360 S.E.2d 196, 200 (1987).

To establish a legitimate expectation of privacy, an individual must demonstrate both a subjective expectation of privacy in the location searched and “an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy that is justifiable under the circumstances.” Rideout v. Commonwealth, 62 Va. App. 779, 788, 753 S.E.2d 595, 599 (2014). Courts examine a number of factors, including: -

whether the defendant has a possessory interest in ... the place searched, whether he has the right to exclude others from that place, whether he has exhibited a subjective expectation that it would remain free from governmental invasion, whether he took normal precautions to maintain his privacy and whether he was legitimately on the premises.

McCoy v. Commonwealth, 2 Va. App. 309, 312, 343 S.E.2d 383, 385 (1986) (quoting United States v. Haydel, 649 F.2d 1152, 1155 (5th Cir. 1981)).

A. Defendant David Shaun Fuller

Turning to the present case, the Court notes initially that neither defendant owned the real property or the residence; the real property was owned by Ms. Robinson, and the residence was owned by Ms. Fuller. (T. 19-21.) In spite of lack of ownership, Ms. Robinson and Ms. Fuller, the owners of the real property and the residence respectively, testified that Defendant David Shaun Fuller had permission to be on their property, and he had control of not only the outbuilding but also the residence. (T. 14-15, 29-30.) He lived there and was charged with caring for the property. (T. 22:23-25, 36:18-25, 44:13-15.) Additionally, he regularly received packages at the property. (T. 58:14-24.) Accordingly, the Court finds Defendant David Shaun Fuller has a legitimate expectation of privacy in the area searched.

B. Defendant Charles Ryan Fuller

Defendant Charles Ryan Fuller asserts that, by virtue of his indictment under § 18.2-258 for Owning or Maintaining a Common Nuisance and under § 18.2-258.02 for Maintaining a Fortified Drug House, he has standing to assert his Fourth Amendment rights. (Def. Reply at 1-2.) He argues that “the Commonwealth cannot have it both ways.” Id. Under the aforementioned indictments, “[t]he person charged must,. . . own or maintain the premises.” Id. Defendant posits that, as the Commonwealth [308]*308must prove he owned or maintained the premises at issue, he must have the requisite property interests in the property searched to confer standing. Id.

Historically, a defendant was automatically conferred Fourth Amendment standing if possession was an element of the offense charged. See Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 260-65, 80 S. Ct. 725, 730-33, 4 L. Ed. 2d 697 (1960). In United States v. Salvucci, the United States Supreme Court reversed its holding in Jones and denied automatic standing to those charged with possessory crimes. 448 U.S. 83, 90-91, 100 S. Ct. 2547, 2552, 65 L. Ed. 2d 619 (1980). The Court reasoned:

the decisions of this Court, especially our most recent decision in Rakas v. Illinois[,]

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Related

Jones v. United States
362 U.S. 257 (Supreme Court, 1960)
Wong Sun v. United States
371 U.S. 471 (Supreme Court, 1963)
Katz v. United States
389 U.S. 347 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Simmons v. United States
390 U.S. 377 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Alderman v. United States
394 U.S. 165 (Supreme Court, 1969)
Brown v. Illinois
422 U.S. 590 (Supreme Court, 1975)
Stone v. Powell
428 U.S. 465 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Mincey v. Arizona
437 U.S. 385 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Franks v. Delaware
438 U.S. 154 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Rakas v. Illinois
439 U.S. 128 (Supreme Court, 1979)
United States v. Crews
445 U.S. 463 (Supreme Court, 1980)
United States v. Salvucci
448 U.S. 83 (Supreme Court, 1980)
Rawlings v. Kentucky
448 U.S. 98 (Supreme Court, 1980)
Taylor v. Alabama
457 U.S. 687 (Supreme Court, 1982)
California v. Ciraolo
476 U.S. 207 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Murray v. United States
487 U.S. 533 (Supreme Court, 1988)
United States v. Padilla
508 U.S. 77 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Minnesota v. Carter
525 U.S. 83 (Supreme Court, 1999)
United States v. Allison
398 F. App'x 862 (Fourth Circuit, 2010)
Kentucky v. King
131 S. Ct. 1849 (Supreme Court, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
88 Va. Cir. 305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-fuller-vaccbuchanan-2014.