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TX2: Defendant allowed third party to deal with fire scene, so that person could consent

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A third party ceded virtual control over a house damaged in a fire where defendant’s husband died in an alleged arson had the authority to consent to fire scene investigators entering to take pictures to determine the cause of the fire. Defendant practically abandoned the property because she did not want to be around it, and she let the third party deal with it. Orr v. State, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 1196 (Tex. App. – Ft. Worth February 18, 2010). Defendant admitted that the gun used in a series of robberies was in his car, and he signed a consent form to search the car. The court rejects his version that he did not know it was a consent form he was signing. [As if probable cause wasn’t enough?] United States v. Medrano, 2010 U...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 23, 2010 (boomark / email).