California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Baca, C077956 (Cal. App. 2016):
(People v. Parson (2008) 44 Cal.4th 332, 345.) "It has long been settled, however, that a warrantless search and seizure involving abandoned property is not unlawful, because a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in such property." (Ibid.)
"[T]he intent to abandon [property] is determined by objective factors, not the defendant's subjective intent. ' "Abandonment is primarily a question of intent, and the intent may be inferred from words, acts, and other objective facts. [Citation.] Abandonment [in the context of the Fourth Amendment] is not meant in the strict property-right sense, but rests instead on whether the person so relinquished his [or her] interest in the property that he [or she] no longer retained a reasonable expectation of privacy in it at the time of the search." ' " (People v. Daggs (2005) 133 Cal.App.4th 361, 365-366, italics added.) "[P]roperty is abandoned when a defendant voluntarily discards it in the face of police observation, or imminent lawful detention or arrest, to avoid incrimination." (Id. at p. 365.) "The question whether property is abandoned is an issue of fact, and the court's finding must be upheld if supported by substantial evidence. [Citation.]" (Ibid.)
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