The Court held that Cohen had Fourth Amendment to standing to challenge the search of the rental car he was driving, even though he was not an authorized driver of the rental car and had a suspended license. In Byrd, the Supreme Court held that standing is not defeated merely because the driver was not listed on the rental agreement. The Eleventh Circuit rejected the reasoning of the Second Circuit, and agreed with the Eighth Circuit, that being an unlicensed driver does not defeat a reasonable expectation of privacy because it is not comparable to wrongful presence in the car. And the Court emphasized that the Cohen did not interfere with the authorized renter’s valid possessory interest in the car because had the renter’s permission to use the car. However, the Court ultimately held that the inventory search of the car complied with the city’s impoundment procedures, and the Court therefore upheld the denial of the motion to suppress.
