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Vassar v. State10/29/2004
' the container supports no reasonable expectation of privacy and the contents can be said to be in plain view." [ United States v. Donnes, 947 F.2d 1430, 1427 (10th Cir.1991)] (citations omitted). See also United States v. Eschweiler, 745 F.2d 435, 440 (7th Cir.1984) (police may open envelope that clearly contained key)...; United States v. Morgan, 744 F.2d 1215, 1222 (6th Cir.1984) (police may open bottle without a warrant where label on bottle made it apparent that the bottle contained contraband).... here the police already possess knowledge approaching certainty as to the contents of the container, the search of the container does not unreasonably infringe upon the individual interest in preserving the privacy of those contents.
United States v. Corral, 970 F.2d 719, 725-26 (10th Cir. 1992). See also Hunter v. State, 704 P.2d 713, 715-16 (Wyo. 1985) (police knew car was stolen, car itself "was contraband" and "it very possibly could also contain contraband, i.e., the personal belongings which were stolen along with the car"). The distinctive configuration of the wooden stash box at issue in the instant case was such that it essentially proclaimed the box's contents.
The aforementioned cases relied upon by the appellant are distinguishable because the characteristics of the containers seized in those cases are dissimilar to the wooden stash boX seized in the instant case. In Evans, 631 N.E.2d at 873-75, an officer seized from the defendant's person what is described as a small unmarked wooden box (the officer did not "notice any writing on the outside of" the box), which box "measured about 1 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches and was closed on all sides." The court concluded that such a box was not "sufficiently distinctive so as to announce its contents" and in the absence of other circumstances, the officer lacked probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of the wooden box and, therefore, the defendant's vehicle. Id. at 877-78. In Runge, 601 N.W.2d at 558, an officer seized a baggie and a film canister from the defendant's person; the officer could not see what, if anything, was in these containers. The court concluded that the containers were "not distinctive enough, standing alone, to announce drug contents" and the officer was not justified in seizing them. Id. at 563-64.
The appellant further argues that Trooper Guenther did not have probable cause to then conduct what he characterizes as a warrantless "general search of the automobile, luggage, containers or personal papers." According to the appellant, Trooper Guenther did not possess the requisite probable cause to search the vehicle's remaining contents based on "the suggestion of a personal use quantity of marijuana...."
"'The search and/or seizure of an automobile upon probable cause is one of the recognized exceptions [to the warrant requirement].... his court recognized that differences exist between motor vehicles and other property, which permit warrantless searches of automobiles in circumstances in which warrantless searches would not be reasonable in other contexts.'"
Borgwardt v. State, 946 P.2d 805, 807 (Wyo. 1997) ( quoting Gronski v. State, 910 P.2d 561, 564 (Wyo. 1996)).
"Probable cause to search a vehicle is established if, under the totality of the circumstances, there is a fair probability that the car contains contraband or evidence." United States v. Downs, 151 F.3d 1301, 1303 (10th Cir.1998) (internal quotation marks and emphasis omitted). "The scope of a warrantless search of an automobile 'is defined by the object of the search and the places in which there is probable cause to believe that it may be found.'" United States v. Nielsen, 9 F.3d 1487, 149
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