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Rakas v. Illinois
Supreme Court of United States (1978)
Petitioners/Defendants: Rakas and party; the defendants committed a robbery and the police officers stopped their car, since it met the description of the get away car. The police officers found a gun and shellings under the front passenger seat of the car. The defendants were just passengers and they did not own the car. The defendants were convicted and their motion to suppress the evidence was denied because the trial court found that they had no standing over the car or the gun, which they did not own. Now the defendants appeal and argue that their 4th Amendment rights were violated.
Issue: 1. Did the defendants have standing over the property? 2. Did the defendants have reasonable expectation of privacy in the car?
Holding: 1. No 2. No
Key Facts: The court held that the "legitimately on the property" requirement of Jones was too broad.
Legal Reasoning: The court ruled that unlike Jones, where the defendant had stayed over night in the apartment of a friend, the defendants in the current case were just sitting in a car and they had no expectation of privacy under the passenger seat of the car, where the gun was found. The court further ruled that the 4th Amendment is designed only to protect personal rights and the defendants can claim no such rights because the car did not belong to them. The conviction was affirmed.