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Broad Consent to Search Allows Seizure of Gun Stuffed Under Mattress at Crime Scene

By Jonathan Byrne

US v. Coleman: Coleman lived with his girlfriend. One night, as he came home, he asked her to open the garage door for him. Unbeknownst to either, two men had earlier broken into the house and hid away in the garage. When Coleman's girlfriend went to open the garage door, she was attacked. In the struggle that ensued, Coleman was shot. After his girlfriend returned from next door (where she had called 911), Coleman retrieved a pistol from their bedroom and checked to make sure the attackers, who had fled, were out of the house. Coleman gave the gun to his girlfriend, telling her to "put it up" and had his brother take him to the hospital. The girlfriend stashed the gun under the mattress in their bedroom. When police arrived (after Coleman was taken to hospital), the obtained a consent to search the "anywhere in the house" from the girlfriend...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Circuit Blog on December 08, 2009 (boomark / email).