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AL: 17 year old could give third party consent to search parents home

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

In a case of first impression, a 17 year old in control of the house while her parents were away had sufficient control over the premises to consent to a search of the premises, surveying many cases. Allen v. State, 2009 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 62 (May 1, 2009), Released, Released for Publication August 2, 2010. Lexis overview: [A] minor child could provide valid third-party consent to a police request to search the house of the minor child's parents when no parent was present when the Atkins test was met. The court found that the test was satisfied: 1) the 17-year old daughter lived there; 2) she had the right of access to the house and the right to invite others there--although the computer in her parents' bedroom was password-protected, they entered the password so that she could access the Internet while they were away; 3) it was reasonable for the officers to conclude that she had sufficient control over the house to consent; and 4) she exercised sufficient discretion to freely consent to the warrantless search.continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 21, 2010 (boomark / email).