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FL4: Two men entering bathroom stall apparently to do drugs did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

When two men enter a restroom stall together, here to do drugs, they have no reasonable expectation of privacy, and officers could look over the partition. State v. Powers, 2008 Fla. App. LEXIS 15898 (4th Dist. October 15, 2008): Clearly, a person in a closed stall in a public restroom is entitled to be free from unwarranted intrusion. E.g. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 360, 88 S. Ct. 507, 19 L. Ed. 2d 576 (1967). However, this expectation gives way where two persons enter a stall together under circumstances reasonably indicating that they are doing drugs. See State v. Orta, 2003 WI App 93, 264 Wis. 2d 765, 663 N.W.2d 358, 362 (Wis. Ct. App. 2003); State v. Tanner, 42 Ohio App. 3d 196, 537 N.E.2d 702, 705 (Ohio Ct. App. 1988); Manning v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 17, 2008 (boomark / email).