Can the Police Search Your Property After You “Abandon” It?

It is a basic principle of constitutional law that in most cases, the police may not search a person’s property without either the owner’s consent or obtaining a valid search warrant. One exception to this rule is for “abandoned property.” In simple terms, if you voluntarily abandon property, there is no longer a “reasonable expectation of privacy” subject to constitutional protection.

Appeals Court Upholds Drug Search of “Running” Car

The Florida Second District Court of Appeal recently addressed this exception in a case, Muhammad v. State, involving a challenge to the search of a vehicle that led to police finding illegal drugs. This case began with two police officers conducting surveillance in what was considered a “high-crime area.” While conducting their surveillance, the officers heard gunshots.

The officers followed the sound of the gunshots to a nearby location. The officers were driving an unmarked vehicle and did not activate any lights or sirens. They pulled behind a white Cadillac owned by the defendant in this case.

The defendant was not involved in the shooting. A few minutes prior to the gunshots, the defendant had exited his parked vehicle with the engine still running, and entered the front yard of a nearby house. After the shooting occurred, the defendant walked back to his car. He then “took flight,” according to court records, upon seeing the two police officers arriving at the scene. The defendant left his own vehicle with the engine running.

There was a great deal of confusion, as it turned out the alleged shooter was also driving a white car. One of the officers leaned into the defendant’s car, ostensibly to shut off the engine. While doing so, the officer noticed a small plastic bag containing what appeared to be illegal drugs. Sometime later, the officers located the defendant and placed him under arrest for trafficking in fentanyl.

The defendant moved to suppress the bag found at the scene as the product of an illegal search. The trial court denied the motion. The defendant subsequently entered a “no contest” plea and received a 10-year prison sentence. The Second District later upheld the conviction and the sentence.

Before the appellate court, the defendant renewed his objection to the police search of his vehicle. The Second District, however, said that the defendant “abandoned his car,” and thus abandoned any constitutional protection against a warrantless police search. While the defendant may have acted reasonably in fleeing after hearing the gunshots, the Court said the officers also acted reasonably “when they reached inside an abandoned car, at an active crime scene, to turn off the engine” and saw the drugs “in plain view.”

Contact the Joshi Law Firm Today

If you are facing criminal charges involving the use or distribution of fentanyl, you could be facing some serious prison time like the defendant in the case above. An experienced Orlando drug trafficking lawyer can advise you of your rights and challenge the legality of any police search of your property. Call the Joshi Law Firm, PA, today at 844-GO-JOSHI or contact us online to schedule a free initial consultation.

Source:

2dca.flcourts.gov/content/download/2437346/opinion/Opinion_2023-0502.pdf