United States v. Porter

United States v. Porter, __ F4th __, 2023 WL 3185043 (10th Cir. May 2, 2023) (CO): The panel agrees with district court that when Porter said he did not have a backpack, a reasonable officer would have understood that he had abandoned the pack and had given up any privacy interests in it. An arrest warrant had been issued for Porter. A detective went looking for him at the warehouse where he worked. Porter was summoned to the manager’s office where the detective arrested him. The detective asked Porter “if there were any personal belongings there at the job site that he wanted to bring with him.” Porter said, he “didn’t have any personal belongings.” The detective asked him, “what about the backpack I watched you walk in with?” Porter answered that he didn’t have a backpack. The detective had the manager show him Porter’s workstation. He searched that space and saw the pack 15 or 20 feet away. The manager asked another employee if the pack was Porter’s. He said it was. The manager “confirmed the bag belonged to no one else,” and then “urged” the detective “take it with him.” The detective looked inside, saw a handgun’s grip, zipped it back up and got a search warrant. During the search he found a .40 caliber handgun. The government charged Porter with being a felon in possession of a firearm. On appeal he argued the district court incorrectly denied his motion to suppress. The panel held the district court correctly found that Porter had abandoned his backpack. The standard by which the court determines abandonment is objective (and subjective): “in the eyes of a reasonable officer, [did] the defendant manifest an intent to disavow ownership of the property.” Here, Porter’s “denial of ownership was clear and unequivocal.” Porter argued that his comments about the backpack meant that he did not have any property that he wanted to take with him to the station. The panel disagreed. It said that his remarks not only demonstrated to reasonable officer that he had abandoned his bag, they also showed a subjective intent to disclaim ownership.