United States v. Maestas

HOLMES, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-Appellant Moses Earnest Maestas appeals from the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence— specifically, forty-two grams of methamphetamine and a handgun — seized from an enclosed garbage storage area. Mr. Maestas argues that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the place where the evidence was seized, and that the seizure therefore violated his Fourth Amendment rights. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm the district court’s denial of Mr. Maestas’s motion to suppress.

BACKGROUND

On June 29, 2009, the Federal…