Shaw

Paul Simon wrote that “one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.” This truism of apartment dwelling also means that what might be one person’s curtilage, in the context of a private single occupancy residence, becomes less subject to privacy expectations in the context of the grounds of a multi-unit apartment complex, as in this case.

It is upon this lowered expectation of privacy in a common area, as opposed to a private area, that we distinguish the case before us from People v. Camacho (2000) 23 Cal.4th 824 [ 98 Cal.Rptr.2d 232 , 3 P.3d 878 ] (Cama cho), which held an intrusion by police into the curtilage of a residence violated the occupant’s legitimate privacy expectations.

Following denial of his motion to suppress evidence, which was made first at the preliminary hearing and renewed in the superior court, Lorenzo Shaw was convicted by a jury of sale of cocaine base. Shaw argues on appeal the search which uncovered the drug was unlawful, his motion for a mistrial based on a witness’s statement should have been granted, and it was error to instruct the jury pursuant to CALJIC No. 17.41.1. We find Shaw’s expectation of privacy in his discovered drug cache was not…