The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant v. Melissa S. Sotelo, Defendant-Appellee

Summary

The court held that an unauthorized driver of a rental car may have a legitimate expectation of privacy in personal packages inside the car, even without a privacy interest in the vehicle itself. Applying the totality of the circumstances, the court found that Sotelo's ownership assertion and the gift-wrapped, sealed nature of the packages established standing to challenge their detention and search. The court affirmed the suppression order and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.