U.S. v. Johnson

• Decision Date: 27 October 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-4031.,08-4031.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Eric Dustin JOHNSON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

584 F.3d 995

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Eric Dustin JOHNSON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 08-4031.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

October 27, 2009.

Bretta Pirie (Steven B. Killpack, Federal Public Defender, with her on brief), Salt Lake City, UT, for Appellant.

Diana Hagen, Assistant United States Attorney (Brett T. Tolman, United States Attorney, with her on brief), Salt Lake City, UT, for Appellee.

Before BRISCOE, EBEL and HARTZ, Circuit Judges.

EBEL, Circuit Judge.

This case presents the novel issue of whether an individual can have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in a storage unit rented with a stolen identity. During a search of a storage unit that Defendant-Appellant Eric Johnson's girlfriend had rented in someone else's name, police discovered two firearms. Johnson eventually entered a conditional guilty plea to one count of being a felon in possession of firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). He conditioned his plea on the right to challenge on appeal the district court's decision not to suppress the evidence that was discovered during the search of the storage unit. The district court had ruled that the police's warrantless search of the storage unit did not violate Johnson's Fourth Amendment rights because Johnson had "forfeited" any privacy rights he might have had in the storage unit by directing his girlfriend to enter into the rental agreement using another person's name and stolen identification. We agree. Therefore, exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

On March 23, 2007, at approximately 1:48 a.m., Sergeant Eric Anderson of the West Valley Police Department was on patrol in West Valley City, Utah, when he saw a vehicle driven by Defendant Eric Johnson make a fast turn that required the vehicle to turn into the wrong lane. Sergeant Anderson ran the vehicle's license plate, which revealed that it was registered to Johnson and that Johnson had two outstanding felony warrants. After pulling Johnson's vehicle over, Sergeant Anderson identified Johnson as the driver and Brittany Christensen, Johnson's girlfriend, as the front-seat passenger. There were also two individuals in the back seat of the vehicle, and the vehicle was cluttered with tools as well as at least two knives. Johnson's girlfriend had an outstanding felony arrest warrant, and Sergeant Anderson called for back-up to carry out the arrests of Johnson and Christensen.

Officer McCarthy arrived and assisted Sergeant Anderson in arresting Johnson and Christensen. During a search incident to arrest, Anderson located drug paraphernalia in the vehicle's console and searched a black purse lying on the floor of the front passenger area.¹ Inside the purse, Anderson found a glass pipe, typically used to smoke methamphetamine. Anderson also found the following in the purse: some identification in the name of Christensen but other identification in the name of Shannon Haroldsen; a Sam's Club card in the name of Shannon Haroldsen, but with Christensen's photograph on it; as well as a rental agreement in Haroldsen's name for a storage unit at Extra Space Storage in West Valley City, Utah, dated the previous day.² Christensen waived her Miranda rights, and told Sergeant Anderson that she had obtained Haroldsen's identification from someone in the car. Later, she contradicted herself by stating that she found the identification and rental agreement in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store.

Sergeant Anderson contacted Haroldsen after discovering that she had reported a burglary of her husband's car several weeks earlier. Haroldsen informed Sergeant Anderson that her purse, containing her checkbook, driver's license, credit and debit cards, and a Sam's Club card, were stolen in the burglary, and that her credit cards and checks had since been used at several establishments. After being informed that the police had found her identification and the rental agreement in her name, she stated that she had not rented the unit and agreed to come to the police station in the morning to consent to a search of the storage unit. Sergeant Anderson then contacted Detective William McKnight, the on-call property detective, and informed him concerning the possible fraud case. Detective McKnight subsequently met with Haroldsen and asked her to sign a consent to search form for the storage unit referenced in the rental agreement.

After signing the consent to search form, Haroldsen accompanied Detective McKnight to the storage unit facility. Detective McKnight explained to the manager of the storage facility, Sherry Kinsey, that the police wanted to search a storage unit that had been rented in Haroldsen's name but that Haroldsen had not actually rented the unit or agreed to have the unit rented in her name. The manager then provided Detective McKnight with copies of documents concerning the unit's rental, including the rental agreement and a receipt for one month's rent. Attached to the rental agreement, which bore Haroldsen's name and address, was a photocopy of Haroldsen's driver's license. The receipt for the unit indicated that one month's rent for the storage unit had been paid for in cash.

The manager showed Detective McKnight the storage unit, which was secured by a heavy-duty lock. Because the lock could not be cut and Haroldsen had consented to the search, the manager of the facility gave Detective McKnight permission to open the unit by cutting the latch. After entering the storage unit, Detective McKnight discovered a Savage .22 caliber rifle and a Bronco 410 shotgun.

Subsequently, Johnson was interviewed at the Salt Lake County jail. After being advised of his Miranda rights and signing a waiver form, Johnson told Detective Mike Christenson that "the storage unit was his." (II Vol. 31, 32.) Johnson admitted that he had asked Brittany Christensen to rent the storage unit for him and that he knew the unit was not in Christensen's name. Johnson also admitted that he possessed both of the firearms that were found in the storage unit and that he knew they were inside the unit.

B. Procedural Background

On May 23, 2007, Johnson was indicted on one count of being a felon in possession of firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and one count of possessing those guns while being an illegal user of or addicted to a controlled substance, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3). Johnson moved to suppress evidence that was discovered during the search of the storage unit, and the district court held a suppression hearing on September 12, 2007. After the district court denied Johnson's motion to suppress in a Memorandum Decision and Order dated November 2, 2007, Johnson entered a conditional guilty plea to the first count of the indictment and was sentenced to thirty months' imprisonment. On appeal, Johnson renews his Fourth Amendment objections to the search of the storage unit.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

When reviewing a district court's decision on suppression of evidence, we review the district court's factual findings for clear error, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to those findings. United States v. Garcia, 459 F.3d 1059, 1062 (10th Cir.2006). The district court's ultimate legal conclusion of whether a search was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment and other questions of law are reviewed de novo. United States v. Smith, 531 F.3d 1261, 1265 (10th Cir.2008). Specifically relevant to this case, we review de novo a district court's determination of whether a defendant has standing to challenge a search. United States v. Eckhart, 569 F.3d 1263, 1274 (10th Cir.2009). The burden of proof is on the defendant to demonstrate that he has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the place searched to establish his standing. United States v. Gordon, 168 F.3d 1222, 1226 (10th Cir. 1999).

B. Analysis

Johnson asserts that the district court erred in determining that he does not have standing to challenge the search of the storage unit because, according to the district court, he had neither a subjective expectation of privacy nor a reasonable expectation of privacy in the unit. Furthermore, Johnson disputes the government's argument that, if Johnson were to establish standing, an exception to the warrant requirement would exist to justify the search based upon the consent of either Haroldsen or Kinsey, the manager of the storage facility.

1. The Right to Privacy Under the Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment protects the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." U.S. Const. amend. IV. Because Fourth Amendment rights are personal, a defendant "may only claim the benefits of the exclusionary rule if [his] own Fourth Amendment rights have in fact been violated." United States v. Jarvi, 537 F.3d 1256, 1259 (10th Cir.2008) (quoting United States v. Salvucci, 448 U.S. 83, 85, 100 S.Ct. 2547, 65 L.Ed.2d 619 (1980)).³ "This inquiry requires a determination of whether the Fourth Amendment was designed to protect an interest of the defendant that was violated by the ... search." United States v. Erwin, 875 F.2d 268, 270 (10th Cir.1989) (citing Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 140, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978)). Thus we turn to the classic two-part Fourth Amendment test: (1) "whether the defendant manifested a subjective expectation of privacy in the area searched" and (2) "whether society is prepared to recognize that expectation as objectively reasonable." United States v. Allen, 235 F.3d 482, 489 (10th Cir.2000) (internal quotation omitted); see also United States v. Valdez Hocker, 333 F.3d 1206, 1208-09 (10th Cir.2003). Even assuming that Johnson established that he had a subjective expectation of privacy in the storage unit, we conclude that he did not show that his expectation of privacy was one that society would recognize as...