What Is the Provision of Fourth Amendment Law Governing the Abandonment of Property ?

Fourth Amendment law governing the abandonment of property provides as follows: "A Fourth Amendment search occurs when the government violates a subjective expectation of privacy that society recognizes as reasonable." Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27, 33, 121 S.Ct. 2038, 150 L.Ed.2d 94 (2001). The Supreme Court has "applied this principle to hold that a Fourth Amendment search does not occur . . . unless 'the individual manifested a subjective expectation of privacy in the object of the challenged search,' and 'society is willing to recognize that expectation as reasonable.'" Id. (quoting California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207, 211, 106 S.Ct. 1809, 90 L.Ed.2d 210 (1986)). . . . In contrast to property law, which defines the often subtle nuances of ownership, courts treat the concept of "abandonment" differently in the context of search and seizure law. "The test for abandonment is whether a defendant voluntarily discarded, left behind, or otherwise relinquished his interest in the property in question so that he could no longer retain a reasonable expectation of privacy with regard to it at the time of the search." 14A Fla. Jur. 2D Abandoned Property 633 (2001); see Maxwell v. State, 443 So.2d 967, 969 (Fla. 1983); Riley v. State, 266 So.2d 173 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972). "No search occurs when police retrieve property voluntarily abandoned by a suspect in an area where the latter has no reasonable expectation of privacy." State v. Milligan, 411 So.2d 946, 947 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982).