Your trash says a lot about you. And, until recently, it could continue to reveal your innermost secrets even while sitting on the curb, waiting for the garbage truck. This month, in a 4-3 decision, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that police can no longer rummage through your garbage for incriminating evidence without a warrant.
The decision was based on two cases involving evidence of drug use obtained from trash bags outside the suspects’ homes. In the case of Ryan Hahn of Scott County, a tip from the Iowa Department of Human Services led police to search Hahn’s garbage. They found a receipt from a Colorado marijuana dispensary, which led to a search of Hahn’s home and, subsequently, his arrest. The court eventually ruled that Hahn had a “reasonable expectation of privacy” that whatever is thrown in the garbage stays in the garbage. The arresting officers shouldn’t feel that Hahn has escaped justice for long because anybody who was dumb enough to bring home the receipt for their illegal drugs will probably be seeing them again soon.
Stalkers and burglars have access to a wealth of information in our trash. We unwittingly toss out bank statements, documents containing our Social Security number, credit card data, personal mail and shopping receipts that would provide clues as to where and when we shop, suggesting the best times to break into our home.
Not only does trash contain private financial information and intimate details of our lives, but, according to garbage collectors, there is also a lot of really weird and cool stuff. Some have found ashes of the deceased, still in the urn from the mortuary. Maybe the owner just got tired of looking at Grandma’s remains sitting on the mantelpiece next to the vintage cat clock with the eyes and tail that move back and forth and the remains of a strawberry Slurpy.
Another sanitation worker found a .357 Magnum pistol and another found two framed Egyptian papyrus paintings. Others have found diamond rings, various human body parts, brand new designer handbags, a Tag Heuer watch and a rare World War II Nazi Enigma code-breaking machine.
A student working one summer directing traffic at a landfill encountered a customer who approached him to bury something privately. He recalled, “He drove an all-black Cadillac with tinted windows and nice rims. But the machine operator didn’t want to switch machines to dig a hole, so he offered the animal pit instead. I watched as the mysterious man threw out a book. Once he drove off, I peered into the animal pit, only to find a photo album with a knife lodged right in the middle. It still gives me the creeps!”
Recently a 35-year-old software engineer, James Howells of Newport, Wales realized he had accidently thrown away his old computer. It turns out, the hard drive contains Bitcoins now worth over $280 million. If only he had left a receipt for some marijuana in the bag along with his computer, the police could have arrested him and now he’d be rich.
Living in Iowa: Now your garbage can’t testify against you
July 1, 2021