U.S. v. Lewis

In prosecution on drug distribution charge, Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress drugs and cash seized from defendant’s hotel room, even though defendant argued that said seizure, which took place after drug-sniffing dog had alerted to presence of drugs while in hallway outside of defendant’s hotel room, violated his reasonable expectation of privacy, and that police application for section 2703(d) tracking order seeking information regarding defendant’s cell-phone lacked probable cause. Record showed that defendant lacked reasonable expectation of privacy regarding area outside his hotel room, where exterior hallway and stairway led to hotel parking lot, and where defendant lacked right to exclude members of public from passing through exterior hallway. Also, any expectation of privacy in exterior hallway was not reasonable. With respect to section 2703(d) tracking order, instant three-year error in providing defendant’s birth-date did not require that police cease attempts at executing search warrant, even though police were aware of error prior to search, where instant three-year difference in birth-dates, by itself, was too insignificant to require police to stop executing warrant. Too, other facts discovered by police supported instant warrant that was eventually issued, where, after police received defendant’s cell-phone location, police had observed woman looking like defendant’s wife drop off bag in defendant’s hotel room and then drive away in car registered to defendant, as well as dog alerting to presence of drugs in defendant’s hotel room. Also, any error in seeking tracking order under section 2703(d) was subject to good-faith exception to exclusionary rule with respect to both historical and real-time cell-site location information.