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Wife's common authority reasonably believed to extend to an unmarked briefcase

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Wife had apparent authority to consent to a search of a briefcase in the common area. United States v. Gallagher, 2008 CAAF LEXIS 616 (May 13, 2008): Today we are asked the question whether, when one spouse consents to a search of the entire house, the apparent authority doctrine extends that consent to an androgynous, unmarked, unlocked, briefcase kept in a common area of the home, which could reasonably hold the object of the search. Based on the facts of this case, we hold that it was not objectively unreasonable for the officer to believe the consent to search the home extended to the briefcase, and the apparent authority doctrine applies. Because Appellant's wife had apparent authority to consent to the search, the military judge did not abuse his discretion in admitting the evidence found in the briefcase during the permissive search or the evidence based on the derivative seizure and subsequent command authorized search of Appellant's computer...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on May 22, 2008 (boomark / email).