Overnight Guest
Remember that in order to claim a Fourth Amendment violation, the defendant generally must allege a violation of his or her rights – standing. To that end, the Supreme Court has said that an overnight guest in a home can challenge the search of that home, even though the person is simply a guest with no actual property interest in that home.
Guest Present for an Illegal Commercial Purpose
The Supreme Court has recognized that commercial premises are treated differently than the sanctity of a home – both are Constitutionally protected, but a home generally has more protections than a commercial premises. With that in mind, the Supreme Court held that drug conspirators, merely present in a home for a matter of hours for the commercial purpose of the drug conspiracy will not have “standing” to challenge the search of that home.
Legal Supplement
Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91 (1990),
To hold that an overnight guest has a legitimate expectation of privacy in his host's home merely recognizes the every day expectations of privacy that we all share. Staying overnight in another's home is a longstanding social custom that serves functions recognized as valuable by society.
Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S. 83 (1998)
Respondents here were obviously not overnight guests, but were essentially present for a business transaction and were only in the home a matter of hours.
But the purely commercial nature of the transaction engaged in here, the relatively short period of time on the premises, and the lack of any previous connection between respondents and the householder, all lead us to conclude that respondents' situation is closer to that of one simply permitted on the premises. We therefore hold that any search which may have occurred did not violate their Fourth Amendment rights.
