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CA11: Pillow case with dye pack stains showed its "outward appearance" so no reasonable expectation of privacy

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant had an expectation of privacy in the pillow case he carried from a bank robbery, but it was not an expectation that society was prepared to recognize as reasonable considering it was stained from the dye pack such that its "outward appearance" and that belied its contents. United States v. Epps, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 16309 (11th Cir. August 6, 2010): In this case, considering the totality of the circumstances, the fact that the pillowcase contained dye packs and possibly other items associated with the bank robbery could “be inferred from [its] outward appearance.” Sanders, 442 U.S. at 764 n.13, 99 S. Ct. at 2593 n.13; see also United States v. Williams, 41 F.3d 192, 197 (4th Cir. 1994) (“[T]he circumstances under which an officer finds the container may add to the apparent nature of its contents...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 09, 2010 (boomark / email).