Defendant appealed the denial of his motions to suppress evidence found in two separate, warrantless searches of his motel room. A gun was discovered in the first search, and drugs and associated paraphernalia were discovered in the second search. Regarding the first search, the Eleventh Circuit held that defendant did not “abandon” his motel room when he ran. Accordingly, he had Fourth Amendment standing to challenge the officers’ initial entry and the ensuing protective sweep, which they conducted within 10 minutes of his flight.
The court ruled that this entry into the motel room was reasonable because the officers had warrants for the defendant’s arrest and the officers reasonably believed that defendant was in the room and thus they had authority to enter the room to execute the arrest warrants, to conduct a limited protective sweep (Buie sweep), and to seize the gun found in plain view under the Plain View Seizure doctrine. Regarding the second search the court held that defendant lost any reasonable expectation of privacy in his room at checkout time. Since the officers carried out the second search with the consent of hotel management after 11:00 a.m., the defendant did not have Fourth Amendment standing to contest the search. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court’s judgment.
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