People v. Powell

• Decision Date: 30 August 1999
• Docket Number: Docket No. 210603.
• Citation: 235 Mich. App. 557,599 N.W.2d 499
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Paul Leonard POWELL, III, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

599 N.W.2d 499

235 Mich. App. 557

PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Paul Leonard POWELL, III, Defendant-Appellant.

Docket No. 210603.

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted May 6, 1999, at Lansing.

Decided May 21, 1999, at 9:05 a.m.

Released for Publication August 30, 1999.

Jennifer M. Granholm, Attorney General, Thomas L. Casey, Solicitor General, Brian L. Mackie, Prosecuting Attorney, and David A. King, Senior Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.

Roberts & Freatman (by Ellis B. Freatman, III), Ypsilanti, for the defendant.

Before: GRIBBS, P.J., and MICHAEL J. KELLY and HOOD, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Defendant was convicted of receiving and concealing stolen property in excess of $100, M.C.L. § 750.535; MSA 28.803, and concealing the identity of a motor vehicle with intent to mislead, M.C.L. § 750.415(2); MSA 28.647(2).¹ Before trial, defendant moved to suppress evidence seized during a search of the test "cell" space where he conducted experiments as a graduate student at the University of Michigan.² Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied defendant's motion. Defendant was sentenced to one year of probation, thirty hours of community service, a $500 fine, and $5,000 restitution. He appeals as of right, and we affirm.

Defendant was a graduate engineering student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He was assigned by his professor to a cell on university property. There he worked with test engineer Mark Robinson, who was not a student but a "regular employee." Robinson was assigned to the particular cell at issue and had a key to that cell. Although defendant regularly worked in the cell conducting confidential tests and experiments, he did not have a key to it, and had access to it only through the use of Robinson's key or if he asked someone else who had a key. At the evidentiary hearing, Robinson testified that the professors usually had master keys to the cells, and the professor who assigned defendant to work in the cell had access to the cell to monitor projects. In addition, Robinson testified that there was also another person with a key to the cell, and it was uncontroverted that public safety officers and custodial personnel had keys to the cell. Robinson unequivocally indicated at the hearing that he could have invited anyone he wished into the cell because it was his cell and he decided who could enter.

Apparently, University Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers went to the cell after receiving a tip about possible stolen property. Officer Timothy Shannon of the DPS testified that he was invited by defendant to enter. Upon entry, Shannon and another officer observed two motorcycles and a motorcycle frame. The vehicle identification number on the motorcycle frame was obscured and partially removed. The license plate on one of the motorcycles was stolen and there was no paperwork on the other motorcycle. The officers seized the motorcycles, the frame, and other motorcycle parts and accessories from the cell. They did not have a warrant.

Defendant argues that he had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the cell and, thus, that the search without a warrant was improper and that the evidence seized should have been suppressed.³ We disagree. While the trial court's findings are reviewed for clear error, the ruling on the motion to suppress is reviewed de novo for all mixed questions of fact and law, and for all pure questions of law. People v. Marsack, 231 Mich.App. 364, 372, 586 N.W.2d 234 (1998), lv. pending. See also People v. Howard, 233 Mich.App. 52, 54, 595 N.W.2d 497 (1998); lv. pending.

Both the Michigan and United States Constitutions prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures. Const. 1963, art. 1, § 11; U.S. Const. Am. IV. The interests under both provisions are equal. People v. Smith, 420 Mich. 1, 27, 360 N.W.2d 841 (1984), citing People v. Nash, 418 Mich. 196, 341 N.W.2d 439 (1983). The test to determine whether a person has a protected privacy right under the Fourth Amendment or art. 1, § 11 is whether the defendant had an expectation of privacy in the object of the search and seizure and whether the expectation is one that society recognizes as reasonable. People v. Perlos, 436 Mich. 305, 317-318, 462 N.W.2d 310 (1990); Smith, supra at 27-28, 360 N.W.2d 841.

In determining whether a violation of the Fourth Amendment has occurred, we must first ascertain whether the defendant has standing to challenge the search. This determination is made by discerning whether the defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the place that was searched. [People v. Duvall, 170 Mich.App. 701, 705, 428 N.W.2d 746 (1988), citing United States v. Salvucci, 448 U.S. 83, 100 S.Ct. 2547, 65 L.Ed.2d 619 (1980).]

The defendant has the burden of establishing standing, People v. Lombardo, 216 Mich.App. 500, 505, 549 N.W.2d 596 (1996), and in deciding the issue, the court should consider the totality of the circumstances. Smith, supra at 28, 360 N.W.2d 841.

There are no determinative cases on point. We find defendant's reliance on cases related to the use of dormitory rooms by students to be inapplicable because the cell in this case is not remotely analogous to a living space. By analogy, however, we look to cases where the defendants asserted a reasonable expectation of privacy in their employment offices.⁴

In Mancusi v. DeForte, 392 U.S. 364, 88 S.Ct. 2120, 20 L.Ed.2d 1154 (1968), the Supreme Court addressed whether the defendant had standing to object to the seizure of records taken from an office shared by the defendant and several other union officials. The Court stated, "[i]t has long been settled that one has standing to object to a search of his office." Id. at 369, 88 S.Ct. 2120. Because the defendant spent a "considerable" amount of time in the large, shared office and had custody of the records at the moment of their seizure, he had standing under the Fourth Amendment to challenge the seizure of the papers. Id. at 368-369, 88 S.Ct. 2120. In making its ruling, the Court discussed the fact that the defendant's office was a shared office:

[I]t seems clear that if [the defendant] had occupied a "private" office in the union headquarters, and union records had been seized from a desk or a filing cabinet in that office, he would have standing. In such a "private" office, [the defendant] would have been entitled to expect that he would not be disturbed except by personal or business invitees, and that records would not be taken except with his permission or that of his union superiors. It seems to us that the situation was not fundamentally changed because [the defendant] shared an office with other union officers. [The defendant] still could reasonably have expected that only those persons and their personal or business guests would enter the office, and the records would not be touched except with their permission or that of union higher-ups. [Id. at 369, 88 S.Ct. 2120 (citations omitted).]

In O'Connor v. Ortega, 480 U.S. 709, 107 S.Ct. 1492, 94 L.Ed.2d 714 (1987), the Court revisited the issue in a different context. In Ortega, the defendant was an employee of a state hospital and was the subject of a work-related misconduct investigation when his private office was searched and property was seized. The property seized was not state property, but the defendant's personal property, including items taken from the desk and file cabinet. The Court stated:

Public employees' expectations of privacy in their offices, desks, and file cabinets, like similar expectations of employees in the private sector, may be reduced by virtue of actual office practices and procedures, or by legitimate regulation.... The employee's expectation of privacy must be assessed in the context of the employment relation.... Given the great variety of work environments in the public sector, the question whether an employee has a reasonable expectation of privacy must be addressed on a case-by-case basis. [Id. at 717-718, 107 S.Ct. 1492.]

The Court held that the defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his desk and file cabinets because he did not share them, he had occupied his office for numerous years, and he kept personal correspondence, materials, and items there. Id. at 718, 107 S.Ct. 1492.

In United States v. Najarian, 915 F.Supp. 1441 (D.Minn., 1995), which is cited by defendant, the court addressed a similar workplace search and seizure. It stated:

Factors relevant to the determination of standing include ownership, possession and/or control of the area searched or item seized; historical use of the property or item; ability to regulate access; the totality of the circumstances surrounding the search; the existence or nonexistence of a subjective anticipation of privacy; and the objective reasonableness of the expectation of privacy considering the specific facts of the case. [Id. at 1449 (citations omitted).]

In Najarian, the defendant challenged...