Minnesota v. Carter

The police received a tip that a drug transaction was transpiring in a ground-floor apartment. Based on the tip, officer James Thielen went to the apartment building and peered into the apartment through a gap in the closed blinds. Thielen saw Melvin Johns (defendant), Wayne Carter (defendant), and Kimberly Thompson putting white powder into plastic bags. Thielen called headquarters, requesting a search warrant. While Thielen was waiting, Johns and Carter left by car. Police stopped the vehicle and observed a gun and a zippered pouch on the floor. The police arrested Johns and Carter. When the car was searched the next day, police discovered 47 grams of cocaine in plastic bags. Police then returned to the apartment, arrested Thompson, and conducted a search pursuant to a warrant. The search revealed cocaine residue and plastic bags like those found in the vehicle. Johns and Carter were charged with drug offenses. Evidence showed that Johns and Carter were from another state, did not have a preexisting relationship with Thompson, and had been in Thompson’s apartment for only a few hours specifically to bag drugs. At trial, Johns and Carter moved to suppress the evidence from the car and the apartment. They argued that Thielen’s initial observation constituted an unreasonable search violating the Fourth Amendment and that the taint of that violation extended to the evidence found in the car and apartment. The trial court denied the motion, holding that because Johns and Carter were not overnight social guests in Thompson’s apartment, they could not claim Fourth Amendment protection. Johns and Carter were convicted. The state appellate court affirmed, but the state supreme court reversed, holding that Johns and Carter had an expectation of privacy in the apartment and therefore had standing to claim Fourth Amendment protection. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.