A Valid Order for Protection Defeats Challenge to Entry Without Warrant

State v. Stephenson, Minn.Ct.App., 2/3/2009.  Mr. Stephenson's wife obtained an order for protection, which specifically prohibited him from being at his wife's residence.  Strangely enough, that's where the police went looking for him when he missed court.  He was there; the officer could see him relaxing in front of the television when he looked in the window.  Mrs. Stephenson admitted the officer, who then found Mr. Stephenson hiding in the bathroom; the officer promptly arrested Mr. Stephenson on the bench warrant, as well as violation of the order for protection.

Pretrial, Mr. Stephenson challenged the entry into the residence without a warrant.  The trial court said that Mr. Stephenson had no reasonable expectation of privacy since he wasn't supposed to be there in the first place.  The Court of Appeals agrees.  That he was the home owner did not create such an expectation, at least not when he's found hiding in the bathroom.  In addition, even if he did have such an expectation, it is not a reasonable one.  The court looks to other jurisdictions that have held that an expectation of privacy in a place from which the law has prohibited him is not reasonable.  Washington v. St. Albans Police Dep’t, 30 F. Supp. 2d 455, 457 (D. Vt. 1998).