Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

CO: Entry by stepping into motel room tainted alleged consent

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officer's stepping into defendant's hotel room was an entry, and defendant's implied consent was invalid. Post hoc rationalization for this search was not valid, either. People v. Prescott, 2008 Colo. App. LEXIS 1272 (August 7, 2008): We reject the Attorney General's argument that by asking Deputy Wilson for help getting his money back, Prescott implied an "invitation for the officers to enter," Clark, 844 S.W.2d at 599, because Deputy Wilson entered without permission before beginning the dialogue with Prescott. The Attorney General has cited no authority, nor are we aware of any in Colorado, adopting such an after-the-fact justification to a warrantless entry based on consent. Cf. People v. Herrera, 935 P.2d at 958 ("The admissibility of evidence seized pursuant to an allegedly consensual search must stand or fall on the basis of the consent given before the search...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 10, 2008 (boomark / email).