United States v. Lucas

SHEPHERD, Circuit Judge,

with whom COLLOTON and BENTON, Circuit Judges, join, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.

I concur in Parts I and III of the Court’s opinion and that portion of Part II that holds that, as an escapee, “Lucas had no legitimate expectation of privacy while hiding out in Scaife’s residence,” ante at 779. Therefore there can be no Fourth Amendment violation in this case. See Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 740, 99 S.Ct. 2577, 61 L.Ed.2d 220 (1979) (“[T]his Court uniformly has held that the application of the Fourth Amendment depends on whether the person invoking its protection can claim a ‘justifiable,’ a ‘reasonable,’ or a ‘legitimate expectation of privacy’ that has been invaded by government action.”); United States v. Bach, 310 F.3d 1063, 1066 (8th Cir.2002) (“[I]n order to find a violation of the Fourth Amendment, there must be a legitimate expectation of privacy in the area searched and the items seized. If there is no legitimate expectation of privacy, then there can be no Fourth Amendment violation.”) (citing Smith, 442 U.S. at 740, 99 S.Ct. 2577); see also Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91, 97 n. 5, 110 S.Ct. 1684, 109 L.Ed.2d 85 (1990) (‘“[T]he Fourth Amendment protects people, not places,’ and provides sanctuary for citizens wherever they have a legitimate expectation of privacy.”) (quoting Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 351, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967)); United States v. Kuenstler, 325 F.3d 1015, 1020 (8th Cir.2003) (“The Fourth Amendment protects ‘against unreasonable searches and seizures,’ but its protections are personal and cannot be asserted by persons lacking a ‘legitimate expectation of privacy’ in the place searched.”) (quoting Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 143, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978)). I find unnecessary the plurality’s analysis with regard to the validity of the administrative arrest warrant and the reasonableness of law enforcement’s belief that Lucas was present in the apartment prior to entry and therefore decline to join it.