## Facts

- Police went to Brandon Grayson’s apartment based on information that a stolen .40-caliber handgun had been sold to someone there.
- Grayson refused consent to search, and officers secured the apartment while seeking a warrant.
- Che Rose was present at a cookout at the apartment; Rose and Grayson had known each other for about six years.
- An officer outside saw Rose attempting to climb out of a window while holding a gun; Rose tried to throw it onto the roof, but it fell to the ground.
- Officers recovered the gun and found Rose in the room with the window; Rose admitted the gun was his.
- Officers also found Rose possessed crack cocaine; the recovered gun was a .38-caliber revolver, and the stolen .40-caliber handgun was not found.
- Rose was charged federally with possession of a firearm by a felon and drug possession.
- Rose moved to suppress the firearm and drugs, asserting a Fourth Amendment violation; the district court denied the motion for lack of standing, and Rose entered a conditional guilty plea preserving the suppression issue for appeal.

## Issues

1. Whether a short-term social guest at another person’s apartment has a legitimate expectation of privacy sufficient to confer Fourth Amendment standing to challenge a search and seizure there.

## Decision

- The Third Circuit affirmed the denial of Rose’s motion to suppress.
- The court held Rose lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy in Grayson’s apartment and therefore lacked Fourth Amendment standing.
- Because Rose lacked standing, the court did not reach the constitutionality of the officers’ conduct in securing the apartment, observing Rose at the window, or seizing the firearm and drugs.

## Legal Principles

- A defendant may challenge a search under the Fourth Amendment only by showing a legitimate expectation of privacy in the place searched.
- A legitimate expectation of privacy requires both (1) a subjective expectation of privacy and (2) an expectation society recognizes as objectively reasonable.
- Status as a short-term social guest, without indicia of control or ongoing access to the premises, generally does not establish an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy.
- Relevant factors include possessory interest, ability to exclude others, possession of a key, receipt of mail, and permission to be present absent the host.

## Conclusion

The Third Circuit concluded that Rose’s limited, social-guest connection to Grayson’s apartment did not create an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy, so he lacked standing to seek suppression of the firearm and drugs recovered during the police response.


United States v. Rose, 613 F. App’x 125 (3d Cir. 2015)