The warrantless search of a hotel room, after its occupant had been mistakenly given a key to another room and items belonging to that room’s occupant were stolen, violated the Fourth Amendment, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday.
A divided panel agreed with U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White of the Northern District of California, who suppressed evidence, including a firearm, seized from the backpack of Michael Young at the Hilton Hotel in San Francisco two years ago.
Senior Judge Alfred Goodwin said Young had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his hotel room.
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