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Defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his desk at work

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his desk at work, and the state did not show that the work area was shared with others to show that there was no expectation of privacy. Harper v. State, 2008 Ga. LEXIS 150 (February 11, 2008): The trial court made an alternative finding that no warrant was required for the search of Harper's desk at work, because it was unlocked and was in a workspace shared by numerous coworkers. The trial court cited Mancusi v. DeForte, 392 U. S. 364 (88 SC 2120, 20 LE2d 1154) (1968), but it failed to recognize that that case controls this issue favorably to Harper. In DeForte, officials conducted a warrantless search of an office owned by a union. The Court held that the defendant had standing to insist that evidence seized during the search be suppressed despite the fact that the union held title to the office and despite the fact that he shared the office with several other union officials...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 12, 2008 (boomark / email).