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CA9: Disclosure of information about a gun on a jail call was not an abandonment of expectation of privacy

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant's disclosure on a jail telephone call that he secreted a gun in a closed container was not a waiver of an expectation of privacy. Aside from the use of the telephone, he otherwise was protective of privacy. Voluntary disclosure to law enforcement officers is far different. United States v. Monghur, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 17815 (9th Cir. August 11, 2009): We think the Seventh Circuit's reasoning in Cardona-Rivera makes perfect sense. When made to a law enforcement officer, an unequivocal, contemporaneous, and voluntary disclosure that a package or container contains contraband waives any reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents. See Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106, 108-09, 98 S. Ct. 330, 54 L. Ed. 2d 331 (1977) (recognizing that "reasonableness" remains the touchstone under the Fourth Amendment)...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 14, 2009 (boomark / email).