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D.Mass.: Communal living can create an expectation of privacy

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The facts of a communal living arrangement may be that of a home sufficient to give a person standing in a common area. The court has to look to the realities of the living arrangement. United States v. Werra, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68790 (D. Minn. September 11, 2008): The parties have not identified, and I have not found, any reported decisions that have, with sustained reasoning, expressly examined the distinction between traditional family homes and multi-unit apartment buildings. Determining whether a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in an area or an item is, of course, a fact-specific inquiry. Before turning to the details of 63 Menlo Street, however, it may be useful to identify several illustrative factors for analyzing whether a residence is more akin to a traditional home or a multi-unit apartment building...continue to full post

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