California v. Greenwood

From Freepedia

California v. Greenwood, 486 U. S. 35 (1988), was United States Supreme Court legal case to decide if searching a person's garbage, without a warrant, violated the Fourth Amendment, and the Fourth Amendment's search and seizure guarantee.


Proceedings:

In 1984, Investigator Jenny Stracner of the Laguna Beach Police Department received information that Billy Greenwood, and another resident of his single-family household Dyanne Van Houten, were trafficking (or dealing) in illegal narcotics (drugs). An anonymous Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) informant told the DEA, in February of 1984, that a truck load of illegal drugs was on its way to Greenwood's home in Laguna Beach, California. The Laguna Beach PD had also had complaints from neighbors about late night traffic to the Greenwood residence. Vehicles would arrive, only stay a few minutes, and the leave at all hours of the day and night. Investigator Stracner's surveillance confirmed this activity.

On April 6, 1984, Stracner had the garbage collector for that neighborhood bring her the trash from the Greenwood residence. The refuse worker cleaned out his truck prior to collecting Greenwood's trash, then brought it to Stracner. She found drug paraphernalia in the discarded waste, and then applied for a search warrant. Based on the rubbish content and the subsequent evidence found, cocaine and hashish in quantity, during the search, Greenwood and Van Houten were arrested and posted bail.

Laguna Beach PD Investigator Robert Rahaeuser repeated the garbage procedure on May 4, 1984, once again the trash contained evidence of narcotics, and after a search warrant and search of the house, additional evidence was recovered, and Greenwood was arrested again.

The California Superior Court dismissed the charges, of both arrests, based on the fact that the garbage was searched without a warrant, in violation of both the California Constitution and the Fourth Amendment.

The California Court of Appeal affirmed the earlier decision (182 Cal. App. 3d 729, 227 Cal. Rptr. 539 [1986]).

The California Supreme Court denied the a petition for review of the Court of Appeal's decision.

Supreme Court case

Events:


On May 16, 1988, the Supreme Court decided by 6-2 vote that post-consumer waste holds no reasonable expectation of privacy. The dissenting justices claimed that there is an expectation that content of any opaque container thrown out or transported will remain private and that search of another person's garbage does not constitute civilized behavior, but the majority ruled that the bags of trash left on the side of the street are in public domain, open to inspection by "animals, children, scavengers, snoops, and other members of the public".

Greenwood was convicted.


Justices:


Advocates:


External links

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