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Leased premises not abandoned because girlfriend still had legal connection to the premises

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The evidence did not support the conclusion that defendant had abandoned leased premises because he was still around at the sufferance of his girlfriend who still had a legal connection to the premises. United States v. Carter, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73737 (N.D. Ill. August 12, 2008): This case is therefore distinguishable from Smith, in which an apartment was reasonably presumed to be abandoned when the tenant, who had a month-to-month oral lease, failed to pay his rent for two months, had removed the majority of his belongings, the power was turned off, and garbage and rotting food had been left within the house. 561 N.E.2d at 258. In the instant case, Carter's girlfriend had a still-valid lease to the apartment and Carter was known to cohabit with her, meaning that Carter had at least as much of an expectation of privacy as an overnight guest in the apartment...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on September 28, 2008 (boomark / email).