Unlicensed driver has no standing to contest search.

• Author: Ziemer, David

Byline: David Ziemer

The driver of a rental car who lacks a valid driver's license has no standing to challenge the legality of a search of that car, the Seventh Circuit held on April 1.

In February 2001, Eugene Haywood returned home to Peoria, Illinois, after driving to and from Chicago in a rented car. After exiting the car, and walking toward the front of it, two police officers identified themselves and had Haywood place his hands on the car's roof.

When asked, Haywood admitted that he did not have a valid driver's license, at which point he was arrested for driving with a revoked license.

The officers then searched the car. Under the hood they found a white sock with over 250 grams of crack cocaine. In the car, they also found an open, half-empty bottle of champagne cognac.

The officers also found the rental agreement for the car, which was registered to Yatisha Sturdivant, Haywood's girlfriend, who had given him permission to drive the car. Under the rental agreement, however, only Sturdivant was permitted to drive the car.

After initially being charged in Illinois state court, he was also charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.

The coconspirator was a friend of Haywood's named Walter Jackson, with whom, on at least three prior occasions, Haywood had driven from Peoria to Chicago to purchase crack cocaine.

In the federal district court, Haywood moved to suppress the evidence found in the car. The district court held that Haywood lacked standing to challenge the search and denied the motion.

After a jury found Haywood guilty on both counts, he moved for a judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy charge, claiming that the evidence was not sufficient to support the jury's verdict. The district court denied this motion, as well. Haywood appealed, but the Seventh Circuit affirmed in a decision by Judge Terence T. Evans.

Standing

The court examined the issue of standing within the framework of U.S. v. Walker, 237 F.3d 845 (7th Cir. 2001), applying a two-pronged test, asking whether there is both a subjective and an objective right to privacy.

The parties agreed that Haywood sufficiently demonstrated a subjective expectation of privacy. The question, thus, was whether that expectation is one that society recognizes as legitimate and reasonable.

In Walker, the court held that a person listed as an authorized driver of a rental car has standing to challenge a...