The state appeals from an order suppressing cocaine which was hidden in a hollowed-out watermelon
Affirmed.
Notes
. We have not resisted the glorious opportunity to characterize the issue in this case as one which involves the fruit of the poisonous vine.
.This claim obviously and unjustifiably confuses the nature of the location from which the object was seized — that is, Ms. Rodriguez’s personal luggage — with the invidious nature of the product itself and the unusual container in which it had been placed. The acceptance of this position would destroy the protection of the Fourth Amendment on the reasoning that the fact that an illegal object was taken by the police itself demonstrates the illegitimacy of any expectation of privacy with respect to it. See also infra note 3.
.The only authorities cited by the state on the "container” issue deal with searches of objects in motor vehicles, see Arkansas v. Sanders,
We think that the search at issue here — of hidden fuel compartments in a boat challenged by the captain (not the owner) and a crew member — is a far cry from the search of a home or the personal belongings of a defendant.
Similarly inapplicable are the decisions cited to support the argument that the defendant had somehow abandoned the contraband by denying that she owned it. E.g., State v. Jones,
.But see also supra note 1.
