INTRODUCTION Dewey Cheetum is raising a motion to suppress certain evidence regarding his criminal charge of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1953 (2000). He claims that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated during a search conducted by his boss, McGuire-Maines. This memorandum addresses whether Cheetum’s motion to suppress evidence will prevail or not.
QUESTIONS PRESENTED
1) Whether Cheetum, as a public employee, has an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy in his credenza at his workplace?
a. Whether Cheetum had a sufficient personal relationship to the items seized?
b. Whether Cheetum exercised immediate control over his personal property when it was seized?
c. Whether Cheetum took a reasonable amount of steps to maintain privacy over …show more content…
All of the files were in standard manila folders, but the work related ones had a government stamp and the names of pending cases inscribed on them. The one which contained his personal information was plain and labeled “Cheetum against the world” and contained 74 half-page “Challenge Slips” which refer to sporting events. The office custom for searches by McGuire-Maines was for them to take place during regular work hours, from eight in the morning till five in the evening. The purpose of these searches was to be able to retrieve files and check on employees work. Only on very rare occasions did these searches need to be conducted after business hours. The search in this case took place at 6:15pm during the time that Cheetum had left for dinner . Other employees were also regularly in and out of Cheetums office during regular office hours. They would routinely go into his credenza in order to retrieve files for cases they needed. Not one of the employees that we know of though ever went through his folder that was clearly not work related; which calls into question McGuire-Maines course of