MBE Rules · Criminal Procedure
Standing to Suppress
Rakas / Byrd
The rule
Only a person whose own reasonable expectation of privacy was invaded may suppress evidence — passengers generally lack standing to challenge a car search, but overnight guests and renters in lawful possession have it.
In plain English
The standing to suppress rule means that only individuals who have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a place or item can challenge the legality of a search or seizure. For example, passengers in a car typically do not have this standing, while someone who is renting a home or staying overnight as a guest may have the right to suppress evidence obtained from an unlawful search of that property.
Worked example
A man is pulled over as a passenger in a friend's car, which is searched by police who find illegal drugs. The man attempts to suppress the evidence, claiming the search was unlawful. However, because he was merely a passenger and had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the car, his motion to suppress is denied.
Memory hook
Only those with a personal stake in privacy can challenge a search.
The trap
Exams may present scenarios where students confuse the rights of passengers with those of guests or renters, leading to incorrect conclusions about standing. Students might overlook the specifics of the relationship to the property in question.
How examiners test it
Questions often involve fact patterns where multiple individuals are present during a search, testing students on who has standing to suppress evidence based on their relationship to the property searched.
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