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LEGAL

RESEARCH

Rakas v. Illinois

Facts

After receiving a robbery report, officers stopped the suspected getaway car being driven by the owner and in which the defendants were passengers. The officers ordered the occupants out of the car and searched the interior of the vehicle. They discovered a box of rifle shells in the locked glove compartment and a sawed-off rifle under the front passenger seat. The officers then arrested the defendants. They conceded that they did not own the automobile and were simply passengers.

Issue

Whether the defendants had standing to object to the search of the vehicle?

Held

No. The defendants had no property or privacy interest in the interior of the vehicle.

Discussion

The defendants admitted they had neither a property nor a possessory interest in the automobile. They had no interest in the property seized, and they failed to show any reasonable expectation of privacy in the glove compartment or under the seat of the vehicle in which they were passengers. Therefore, the defendants lacked standing to challenge the search of those areas.

Citation

439 U.S. 128, 99 S. Ct. 421 (1978)

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