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Paying rent does not necessarily convert "common authority" into landlord-tenant relationship

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant stayed in the house of another person and he paid rent of $100 a month. While a landlord cannot consent to a search of a tenant under Chapman, this was not a traditional landlord-tenant relationship, and he let the other person have entry into his room when he was not there. Therefore, this was a case of common authority under Matlock. United States v. Thompson, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 9691 (10th Cir. May 5, 2008). Receiving permission to drive a rental car from a person who himself was an authorized driver under the rental contract confers no standing on the driver. United States v. Aispuro, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36306 (N.D. Ill. May 2, 2008).* Defendant secreted personal property on somebody else's property, so he had no reasonable expectation of privacy...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on May 07, 2008 (boomark / email).