People v. Lindsey

(Modified upon denial of rehearing.) Defendant was convicted of unlawful possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance within 1000 feet of a school.  Court denied Defendant's motion to suppress evidence (heroin and related items) inside his motel room.  A warrantless "free air" dog sniff outside the door of his motel room did not violate the fourth amendment. Officer testified that once dog reached "the general area" outside the room, he signaled an alert to the odor of narcotics; but on cross-exam stated that dog was approximately at the door handle and the door seam and "within inches of the door" when he alerted. The door to Defendant's room was set back in a little alcove; the alcove had a door, but the area was open to the public and the door was propped open.Defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the alcove outside his room, and there is no evidence that he had a subjective expectation of privacy in the alcove. When Defendant's expectation was the hope that the odor of narcotics would not be sensed by a drug-detection dog in the alcove outside his room, that expectation is not reasonable and not subject to 4th amendment protection. (KILBRIDE, GARMAN, and KARMEIER, concurring; BURKE and NEVILLE, dissenting.)