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CA6: Officers lacked reasonable belief in apparent authority of a woman to consent to a guest's belongings in his room

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officers came to an apartment to arrest the defendant for whom they had an arrest warrant, but they had no search warrant. A woman who answered the door let them in, and they arrested defendant, taking him out. Without asking defendant or even attempting to resolve any possible ambiguity as to ownership of a shoebox marked 10½ men’s Air Jordans surrounded by men’s clothes, the officers got consent from the woman, who essentially disclaimed a privacy interest in the room. The District Court’s suppression order is affirmed; no apparent authority to consent. United States v. Taylor, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 7527, 2010 FED App. 0103P (6th Cir. April 13, 2010): Upon conducting a full search of the apartment, the officers found more men’s clothes in the spare bedroom’s closet...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 14, 2010 (boomark / email).