The question presented in this case is whether the police violated the Fourth Amendment when, during théir execution of a warrant to search a home, they searched a purse that belonged to a guest at the home. The district court and court of appeals concluded that the search did not violate the Fourth. Amendment. Because we cqnclude that the search was reasonable under the totality of the circumstances, we affirm.
FACTS
In April 2015 law enforcement applied for a warrant to search the home of N.Z. because police believed N.Z. was selling methamphetamine out of his home.- The warrant application sought permission to search the premises and N.Z. for drugs and evidence of drug trafficking. The warrant application alsо indicated that police believed that a woman, M.L.D., resided at the premises with N.Z., but the application did not provide any other information about M.L.D. or indicate that she was involved in drug traffiсking. The district court issued a warrant authorizing the search of N.Z. and his home for methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and materials associated with drug
When police, arrived at N.Z.’s home tо execute the warrant, they found appellant, Tara Molnau, sitting on a couch in the living, room. Police searched the living room and found marijuana and marijuana paraphernaliа. Police also searched the kitchen, where they found methamphetamine and “suspected hash oil.” They also found a purse on the kitchen table. The purse contained .4.002 grams of methara-phetamine and Molnau’s identification card.
Respondent State of Minnesota charged Molnau with third-de’gree controlled-substance crime, Minn. Stat. § 152.023 (2014), for possessing methamphetаmine. Before trial, Molnau moved to suppress the methamphetamine found iii her purse. She argued that the search violated her Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searсhes, because as a visitor to N.Z.’s residence, the search of her purse was beyond the scope of the warrant. The district court denied Molnau’s motion, concluding, that irrespective of whether police knew the purse belonged to Molnau, “[t]he officers executing the search warrant could reasonably assume that the items listed in the search warrant could be сoncealed in a purse,” and that because the purse was not in Mblnau’s possession, police could properly search it.
Molnau entered a plea of not guilty, waived' her right to a jury trial and her other trial rights, and stipulated to the facts under Minn. R. Crim. P. 26.01, subd. 4. The parties agreed that the charge was based exclusively on . the methamphetamine found in the purse. After a bench trial, the district court found Molnau guilty, stayed imposition of sentence, and placed Molnau on probation.
Molnau appealed the suppression issue, arguing that as a visitor not named in the wаrrant, she had a reasonable expectation of privacy in her belongings, including her purse, even if they were not in her possession when the warrant was executed! The court of appeals affirmed' the denial of Molnau’s motion to suppress. State v. Molnau, No. A16-0330,
ANALYSIS
On appeal, Molnau argues that the district cоurt erred in refusing to suppress the contents of her purse as the fruits of an unconstitutional search. When reviewing thé denial of a pretrial motion to suppress evidence, we review the district court’s factual findings for clear error arid its legal conclusions de novo. State v. Ortega,
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that “[t]he right of.the people to be secure in their .persons, houses, paрers, and effects against unreasonable searches ... shall not be violated.” U.S. Const, -amend. IV.
A search that exceeds the scope of a warrant is unconstitutional. Horton v. California,
In this case, the purse was not in Mol-nau’s possession when police searched it, so the search did not involvе a search of Molnau herself. See Wynne,
We have examined whether a search exceeds the scope of a warrant using a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis. See State v. Thisius,
Examining all of the circumstances here, we сonclude that the search of Molnau’s purse was reasonable. Several facts are important to our analysis. First, the warrant application suggests that police believed thаt a woman, M.L.D., lived at the home with N.Z., and the parties acknowledge that a purse is an item typically associated with women. Second, at the time of the search, the police did not knоw to whom the purse belonged. Third, police did not find the purse in anyone’s possession; it was found unattended in a different room than where police found Molnau. Finally, it was reasonable for police to believe that they could find the drugs and contraband for which they were searching in the purse.
We emphasize that all of the facts and circumstances should be considered in determining whether the search of a guest’s belongings falls within the scope of a premises warrant. Taken together, the facts here show that the search of Mol-nau’s purse was reasonable, and therefore the search did not violate Molnau’s Fourth Amendment rights. Because the search was reasonable, we hold that the district court did not err in denying Molnau’s motion to suppress.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the decision of the court of appeals.
Affirmed.
. The State does not argue that the warrant was an "all persons” warrant, which would authorize police to search all people found at the premises subject to the warrant. See State v. Hinkel,
. The parties have identified three tests that courts have used to determine when a searсh of a guest’s belongings exceeds the scope of a premises search warrant: (1) the physical possession test, see State v. Reid,
The State further argues that the Supreme Court effectively rejected any test except the рhysical possession test in Wyoming v. Houghton,526 U.S. 295 , 307,119 S.Ct. 1297 ,143 L.Ed.2d 408 (1999). Houghton examined the scope of a warrantless automobile search. Id. at 300-03,119 S.Ct. 1297 . In a car, both drivers and passengers have a reduced expеctation of privacy. Id. This case does not involve the automobile exception, and we therefore conclude that Houghton does not require us to abandon the totality-of-the-circumstances approach.
