U.S. v. Morales, 85-6054
| Decision Date | 16 June 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 85-6054,85-6054 |
| Citation | 847 F.2d 671 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Felix MORALES, Effrain Llorente, Francisco Perez, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Anthony J. Scremin, Miami, Fla., for Morales and Perez.
Ellen Leesfield, Coral Gables, Fla., for Llorente.
Leon B. Kellner, U.S. Atty., Robert Lipman, Linda Collins Hertz, David O. Leiwant, Asst. U.S. Attys., Miami, Fla., for U.S.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Before RONEY, Chief Judge, KRAVITCH, Circuit Judge, and HENDERSON, Senior Circuit Judge.
Having reserved the right on their pleas of guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute while on a vessel of United States registry, defendants Felix Morales, Francisco Perez, and Effrain Llorente appeal the denial of their motion to suppress the cocaine found on the vessel. The district court, without an evidentiary hearing, held the defendants lacked standing because they had no reasonable expectation of privacy to contest the search that revealed cocaine in a hidden compartment on the boat. Deciding the defendants have alleged sufficient facts to give them standing, we remand for an evidentiary hearing.
The location of the sealed compartment on this vessel causes this case to fall between the lines of authority developed in the cases decided in this Circuit. The vessel SHELLY is a thirty-two foot pleasure craft. A secret compartment containing 700 pounds of cocaine was located under the crew's sleeping quarters of the vessel. After cutting away the carpet, taking up the floor, and then finally removing the watertank under which the cocaine had been concealed, the contraband was found by a boarding party of the United States Coast Guard. The alleged fact that it was necessary to go through the defendants' sleeping quarters and cut through those quarters to find the concealed tank, differentiates the case from our prior cases.
To be entitled to an evidentiary hearing with respect to a motion to suppress, it is necessary for the movant to allege a reasonable expectation of privacy in the area searched and the items seized. United States v. Sneed, 732 F.2d 886 (11th Cir.1984). We have consistently held that "neither captain nor crew has a legitimate expectation of privacy ... in an area which is subject to the common access of those legitimately aboard the vessel." United States v. Freeman, 660 F.2d 1030, 1034 (5th Cir. Unit B 1981). We have also held that defendants had no legitimate expectation of privacy in a concealed compartment to which access is gained through such common areas. United States v. Lopez, 761 F.2d 632 (11th Cir.1985) (); United States v. Sarda-Villa, 760 F.2d 1232 (11th Cir.1985) (). On the other hand, we have...
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U.S. v. Cardona-Sandoval
...to exclude intruders from the area in or through which on-board access could be had to the property seized. CompareUnited States v. Morales, 847 F.2d 671, 672 (11th Cir.1988) (recognizing crew's Fourth Amendment right to challenge search of hidden compartment, since authorities gained acces......
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U.S. v. Harris, No. 07-13473 Non-Argument Calendar.
...gained access to the compartment through an area in which there was a reasonable expectation of privacy. United States v. Morales, 847 F.2d 671, 672-73 (11th Cir.1988) (holding that because discovery of a hidden compartment in the floor of the crewmembers' sleeping quarters involved a searc......
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U.S. v. Morales
...of the crew's sleeping quarters on the SHELLEY and whether defendant had standing to challenge the search. United States v. Morales, 847 F.2d 671, 672 (11th Cir.1988) (per curiam) (concluding that there exists sufficient question as to whether the defendants had a legitimate expectation of ......