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Private search was clearly private, and officer's search did not exceed private search

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

In a really interesting case, the defendant checked out of a hotel room and left a gym bag in the closet and the safe locked. Housekeeping discovered the situation, removed the bag, and called hotel engineering to open the safe. When the safe was opened, the hotel manager decided to open the package inside to see if it would survive 90 days in lost and found (e.g., was it biogradable or subject to spoilage?). The package contained a powder which they suspected was drugs, so they called the police. The police came and saw that it was cocaine, so they got sham cocaine to replace it, and they put the sham cocaine back in the safe and the gym bag into the closet in case the owner came back to claim it. He did, and he was arrested when he came out of the room...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 13, 2008 (boomark / email).