State v. Dess

Defendant appeals from a jury conviction of felony theft in the Eighth Judicial District Court, Cascade County. He raises a single issue: Whether the District Court erred in denying his motion to suppress certain evidence. We affirm the District Court, finding that defendant lacked standing to challenge the constitutionality of both the search and seizure of evidence, as he had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the area searched.

Shortly before midnight, July 6, 1981, a couple (Stimsons) who owned a liquor store in Neihart, Montana, reported the theft of two bottles of Southern Comfort…