United States v. Guzman

Appellate Case: 24-2122 Document: 43 Date Filed: 08/08/2025 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS August 8, 2025 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. No. 24-2122 RAUL GUZMAN, Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (D.C. No. 1:22-CR-01915-WJ-1) _________________________________ J.K. Theodosia Johnson, Assistant Federal Public Defender (Margaret Katze, Federal Public Defender, with her on the briefs), Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, appearing for Appellant.

Paul J. Mysliwiec, Assistant United States Attorney (Holland S. Kastrin, Acting United States Attorney, with him on the brief), Office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, appearing for Appellee. _________________________________ Before MATHESON, BACHARACH, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ MATHESON, Circuit Judge. _________________________________ Raul Guzman appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence found in a camper trailer where he was living. The trailer was located on property where the Appellate Case: 24-2122 Document: 43 Date Filed: 08/08/2025 Page: 2

City of Albuquerque had declared two buildings substandard. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm. Mr. Guzman lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy in the trailer and thus lacked Fourth Amendment standing to challenge the search.

I. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background1 The Property Jeffrey Cannon owned property in Albuquerque, New Mexico.2 In December 2020, the City of Albuquerque (“the City”) declared two buildings on the property to be “substandard.”3 The City ordered the buildings vacated, secured the building entrances, and posted identical yellow notices on the doors. The notices stated:

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DO NOT ENTER SUBSTANDARD BUILDING UNSAFE TO OCCUPY NO PERSON SHALL RESIDE IN THIS STRUCTURE OR ON THIS PROPERTY.

NO PERSON SHALL OCCUPY THIS STRUCTURE OR REMAIN ON THIS PROPERTY PAST DAYLIGHT HOURS. ONLY PERSONS AUTHORIZED BY THE CITY OR THE OWNER MAY OCCUPY THIS PROPERTY DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS FOR PURPOSES OF REPAIRING, SECURING, OR CLEANING THIS PROPERTY.

IT IS A MISDEMEANOR TO OCCUPY THIS BUILDING OR TO REMOVE OR DEFACE THIS NOTICE.

ROA, Vol. I at 34. The notices included an inspector’s name and phone number. Id. Here is an image of the notice:

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After the buildings were declared substandard, Mr. Cannon allowed a friend to park a camper trailer in the property’s backyard. There was no posted notice on the trailer.

The Incident In September 2022, Albuquerque Police Officers Walker Marion and Alex Castellano accompanied Christopher Armenta, a city code enforcement supervisor, to inspect Mr. Cannon’s property for compliance with Albuquerque’s housing code. Upon entering the property, the officers checked both buildings’ doors to make sure they were locked.

They then approached the trailer. Officer Marion checked the door and, finding it unlocked, opened it. He immediately encountered Mr. Guzman and asked him to show his hands and exit the trailer. Mr. Guzman did not comply with the commands, protesting that he had just awakened. He paused in the doorway with his right hand hidden behind his back. Officer Marion then heard a metal object hit wood, after which Mr. Guzman emerged from the trailer with his hands raised.

Officer Marion handcuffed Mr. Guzman. While being cuffed, Mr. Guzman told the officers he had the owner’s permission to stay on the property.

Officer Castellano then led Mr. Guzman away while Officer Marion stepped into the open door of the trailer. He spotted and seized a revolver in plain sight.

The officers walked to the front of the property and placed Mr. Guzman in the back of a police car. Shortly thereafter, they arrested Mr. Guzman on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant.

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B. Procedural Background A grand jury indicted Mr. Guzman for being a felon in possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).

Suppression Motion Mr. Guzman moved to suppress the evidence obtained in the warrantless entry and search of the trailer. He contended he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the trailer because Mr. Cannon granted him permission to stay there and because the posted notices referred only to the substandard buildings and thus did not pertain to the trailer. He argued the officers violated his Fourth Amendment rights by opening his trailer door, seizing and handcuffing him, and searching the trailer.

The Government argued that Mr. Guzman lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy because his presence on the property violated the Albuquerque Housing Code (the “Code”), regardless of whether he had the property owner’s permission.

Evidentiary Hearing The district court held an evidentiary hearing on the motion. The officers’ body-camera footage was played, and Mr. Stockman (the property’s lienholder), Mr. Armenta, and Officers Marion and Castellano testified.

An investigator from the Federal Public Defender’s Office testified that she spoke to Mr. Cannon, who confirmed he owned the property and gave Mr. Guzman permission to stay in the trailer.

Mr. Guzman also testified that, after becoming homeless, he received Mr. Cannon’s permission to stay in the trailer. He began living there in “[e]arly Appellate Case: 24-2122 Document: 43 Date Filed: 08/08/2025 Page: 6

September [2022],” shortly before the encounter with the officers.4 ROA, Vol. II at 42.

Mr. Guzman admitted to having seen and read the posted notices, including the notices’ statements “about a restriction on the property.” Id. at 44. When pressed, Mr. Guzman said, “I just didn’t pay attention to those things, because that wasn’t my concern. I didn’t own the property.” Id. at 47-48.

District Court Order The district court denied Mr. Guzman’s suppression motion. It ruled Mr. Guzman lacked standing to challenge the search of the trailer because he did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. The court noted that Mr. Cannon’s permitting Mr. Guzman to stay in the trailer “provides some evidence in support of” a subjective expectation of privacy. ROA, Vol. I at 72 n.5. But it concluded that any such expectation was objectively unreasonable because the posted notices put him “sufficiently on notice that no one could lawfully occupy or reside on the property.” Id. at 73-74.

In the alternative, the district court found that, even if Mr. Guzman had Fourth Amendment standing to challenge the search, several exceptions to the warrant requirement justified the officers’ actions.

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Guilty Plea and Sentencing Mr. Guzman pled guilty to the felon-in-possession charge. In his plea agreement, Mr. Guzman retained the right to appeal the district court’s denial of the suppression motion only on the grounds argued in district court. He was sentenced to months in prison and three years of supervised release. Mr. Guzman timely appealed.

II. DISCUSSION A. Legal Background Fourth Amendment Standing The Fourth Amendment protects the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

U.S. Const. amend. IV. “[T]he Supreme Court has recognized that defendants in federal cases may move a district court to exclude from trial evidence obtained through an unlawful search and seizure,” United States v. Lowe, 117 F.4th 1253, 1260 (10th Cir. 2024) (citing Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 389 (1968)), including “evidence deemed to be ‘fruit of the poisonous tree,’ (i.e., evidence discovered as a direct result of the unlawful activity),” United States v. Neugin, 958 F.3d 924, 931 (10th Cir. 2020) (quoting United States v. Olivares-Rangel, 458 F.3d 1104, 1108-09 (10th Cir. 2006)).

“In order to challenge the lawfulness of a search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment, a defendant must first establish his or her standing to do so.”

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United States v. Marchant, 55 F.3d 509, 512 (10th Cir. 1995).5 “Consequently, ‘a threshold issue in deciding a motion to suppress evidence is whether the search at issue violated the rights of the particular defendant who seeks to exclude the evidence.’” United States v. Soto, 988 F.2d 1548, 1552 (10th Cir. 1993) (quoting United States v. Rascon, 922 F.2d 584, 586 (10th Cir. 1990)). Standing exists when “the person who claims the protection of the Amendment has a legitimate expectation of privacy in the invaded place.” Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S. 83, 88 (1988) (quotations omitted).6 Defendant’s Standing Burden “The Defendant has the burden of establishing his standing.” United States v. Creighton, 639 F.3d 1281, 1286 (10th Cir. 2011). We thus “inquire whether the defendant has established (1) a subjective expectation of privacy in the property Appellate Case: 24-2122 Document: 43 Date Filed: 08/08/2025 Page: 9 searched, and (2) that society would recognize that expectation of privacy as objectively reasonable.” Marchant, 55 F.3d at 513; Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91, 95-100 (1990).

The defendant satisfies the subjective component by showing he “exhibited an actual (subjective) expectation of privacy,” Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 740 (1979) (quoting Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 361 (1967) (Harlan, J., concurring)), meaning “the individual has shown that ‘he seeks to preserve [something] as private,’” id. (quoting Katz, 389 U.S. at 351).

The defendant satisfies the objective component by showing his subjective expectation of privacy is “one that society is prepared to recognize as ‘reasonable.’” Id. (quotations omitted). “[A] court must consider all of the facts and circumstances of the case in determining whether a defendant’s subjective expectation of privacy is legitimate.” United States v. Carr, 939 F.2d 1442, 1445 (10th Cir. 1991) (citing United States v. Salvucci, 448 U.S. 83, 91-93 (1980)).

The Supreme Court has held a person lacks an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy in a place in which his presence is “wrongful.” Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S.128, 141 n.9 (1978) (quoting Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 267 (1960)); Terrence Byrd v. United States, 584 U.S. 395, 409 (2018) (“No matter the degree of possession and control, the car thief would not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a stolen car.”).

This principle applies to a variety of situations. For example, it includes squatters and trespassers. See United States v. Ruckman, 806 F.2d 1471, 1472-74 Appellate Case: 24-2122 Document: 43 Date Filed: 08/08/2025 Page: 10

(10th Cir. 1986).7 It also extends to individuals whose presence is otherwise wrongful despite the owner’s consent, such as those in violation of supervised release terms, see Lowe, 117 F.4th at 1264-65 (holding that, even if defendant had obtained lawful possession of storage unit, he lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy because “obtaining and using the storage unit violated the terms of his supervised release”), or subject to a no-contact order, see United States v. Cortez-Dutrieville, 743 F.3d 881, 884-85 (3rd Cir. 2014); United States v. Schram, 901 F.3d 1042, 1045-46 (9th Cir. 2018) (same), or guests of evicted tenants, see Woodward v. City of Tucson, 870 F.3d 1154, 1159-60 (9th Cir. 2017).

Standard of Review Generally, when reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress, we “view the evidence in the light most favorable to the determination of the district court.”

United States v. Johnson, 43 F.4th 1100, 1107 (10th Cir. 2022) (quotations omitted).

“We accept the district court’s factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous and Appellate Case: 24-2122 Document: 43 Date Filed: 08/08/2025 Page: 11 review legal conclusions de novo.” United States v. Young, 99 F.4th 1136, 1142 (10th Cir. 2023) (citations omitted).

“The existence of a subjective expectation of privacy is a question of fact subject to review for clear error,” and “[w]hether any such subjective expectation of privacy is one society would consider reasonable . . . is subject to de novo review.”

United States v. Wells, 739 F.3d 511, 522 (10th Cir. 2014).

B. Analysis Mr. Guzman did not meet his burden to establish standing. We assume that Mr. Guzman had a subjective expectation of privacy in the trailer based on Mr. Cannon’s permission. But considering his own testimony that he read the posted signs informing him it was unlawful to reside on the property, we conclude society would not accept his subjective expectation as reasonable.

Overnight guests ordinarily enjoy an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy. See Olson, 495 U.S. at 98 (stating this is based on “expectations of privacy that we all share” in the “longstanding social custom” of staying as a guest in a host’s home). But Mr. Guzman’s situation was not ordinary. He was staying on a property where the City had posted notices on the buildings expressly prohibiting any person from residing in the structure or on the premises. The notices stated: • “No person shall reside in this structure or on this property”; • “No person shall . . . remain on this property past daylight hours”; and • Occupancy of the property was permitted only “during daylight hours” and solely for “repairing, securing, or cleaning this property.”

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ROA, Vol. I at 34 (capitalization omitted).8 Mr. Guzman testified that he had been living in the trailer since early September, thus violating all three of the notices’ prohibitions. He argues Mr. Cannon’s permission nonetheless made his subjective expectation of privacy objectively reasonable. But under “all of the facts and circumstances”—in particular, the posted notices’ express prohibition on anyone residing on the property—his expectation was not objectively reasonable. Carr, 939 F.2d at 1445; Byrd, 584 U.S. at 409 (“[W]rongful presence at the scene of a search would not enable a defendant to object to the legality of the search.” (quotations omitted)).9

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Mr. Guzman argues the signs did not pertain to the trailer because they were posted only on the buildings, not on the lot or the trailer itself. See Aplt. Br. at 19-20. But the instructions on the notices were not limited to the specific structures—they expressly prohibited residing on or remaining “on this property” past daylight hours. ROA, Vol. I at 34. Mr. Guzman testified he had read these notices, including the provisions barring residence and limiting occupation of the property. This testimony undermines any claim he did not know he was unlawfully residing on the property. See Creighton, 639 F.3d at 1287-88. As the district court found, these notices sufficiently notified him that residing on the property was wrongful. He thus lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy and in turn lacked standing to challenge the search of the trailer.10

Procedure 12[(c)(3)] to decline review of any argument not made in a motion to suppress evidence and raised for the first time on appeal, unless good cause can be shown.”); United States v. Burke, 633 F.3d 984, 987 (10th Cir. 2011) (“[T]his waiver provision applies . . . also to the failure to include a particular argument in the motion.” (quotations omitted)); see ROA, Vol. I at 90-91 (reserving Mr. Guzman’s right to appeal denial of his suppression motion “on any grounds argued by the Defendant in district court”).

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III. CONCLUSION We affirm.

interest in or lawful possession of the trailer, and had no right to exclude others. See United States v. Arango, 912 F.2d 441, 445 (10th Cir. 1990).