Criminal Procedure

Procedural History:

• Found guilty at trial court.
• Appealed.
• Reversed.
• Appealed.
• Reversed. No violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Facts:

• White was charged with various illegal drug transactions.
• On four different occasions, conversations in White’s home were overheard by a federal informant hiding in a closet and then also heard without the consent of White by a second agent outside the house using a radio receiver.
• Those conversations were used at trial to help convict White of illegal drug transactions.

Issue:

• Was the use of the information obtained by the undercover agents a violation of Whites Fourth Amendment rights?

Holding:

• No. White had no expectation of privacy.

Reasoning:

• Respondent cannot have a reasonable expectation of privacy when voluntarily telling information to another person.
• Once you tell another person private information, it no longer private and therefore there is no expectation of privacy.