Illegal Search and Seizure

I'm no lawer, but I can't imagine that a tenent has the authority to give the police permission to search any part of the home that they aren't renting. As far as I'm concerned, this is no different than a resident of an appartment in a large appt building giving the police permission to search the appartment of their neighbor or they guy down the hall. Assuming that the police didn't have a warrant, I would imagine that anything found in the search would be thrown out in court.

Did your friend call the police yet to verify her story? It sounds like bs to me. I think she stole the computer and sold it for a down payment on another apartment.

Thanks for the response. Few more things I forgot to add,

the female is 22/23, a very heavy drinker and was supposed to be going to AA after an incident(before she moved into my friends house) in which she drank heavily then took sleeping pills. She was in custody of her 1.5 year old baby at the time. She had to call 911 as she had a crisis. Needless to say the County authorities took away custody of the baby which is now with the father's parents.

In the past few weeks she lost her job most likely because of her drinking. Also my friend recently found out she has been diagnosed bi-polar. My friend knew nothing of this before she moved in. Only accepted her on recommendations from a friend of the girl's mother.

Also after the incident with the police she admitted to her mother, "she panicked".

Thanks again, looking for some attorney opinion.

Yes, police were called. Computer was not stolen. She would have stolen a $2,000 amp and '52 Telecaster in the same room if that was it. The police said they wanted permision to search the computer. He didn't give permission as he wanted to talk to a lawyer first. Which he has since down along with a private investigator the lawyer uses. They are proceeding on several fronts to get the computer returned.

If you're looking for an attorneys opinion then why not ask the one your friend hired? This whole story doesn't make sense. Did the police say why they took his computer? Did they claim to have a warrant? And since they asked for his permission to look at what's on it tells me they have already looked and want his permission to charge him with a crime they think he's commited. Since they already took the computer without a warrant they know they can't charge him with anything. It would never hold up in court.

Was he renting the room to her, or sub-leasing? Not that it's a huge difference, just curious.

To answer your mid-term question...

It depends and it doesn't matter.

If your friend didn't have anything to worry about on his computer, then there's nothing to worry about. If he wants this classified as an illegal seizure in order to get his computer back faster... well, that's just retarded. Police run on their own schedules in giving back evidence. If your friend wants his computer back quickly, he should have his lawyer talk to the DA and have this smoothed out. Once the DA says there won't be any charges, this would free the police up to discharge the evidence.

If your friend wants to go to court and get an order to get his computer back he'll have to wait for a hearing, wait for an order, wait for the police to comply (assuming they're aren't pissed now, they should comply promptly) then get the computer back. Of course, that's assuming it was an illegal seizure. If it wasn't, now the DA and police are probably pissed for being taken into court over it and will hold it as long as feasible just to shit on your friend.

Whether or not this was an illegal seizure... it depends, look it up yourself.

Police said someone(his roomate) reported seeing questionable images. Note: not illegal images, but 'questionable'.

He is the owner and sole occupant of the house. He was renting a spare bedroom and private bathroom to her.

Silverback, thank you you've made some excellent points.

This sounds like a midterm question to me too. However, the assurance that there's nothing actually illegal on the computer sounds more like the statement of an actual defendant rather than a law school professor.

That said, the police clearly need a warrant to seize a computer from someone's home. All of the probable cause in the world, even the eyewitness account of a drunk, does not permit a warrantless seizure from a private residence (absent an exigent circumstance or other Fourth Amendment exception).

As noted above, however, if there's no contraband on the computer, there's no real remedy for the Fourth Amendment violation except a lawsuit in federal court for violating the person's civil rights.

Ironically, I'm actually typing this response from a courthouse.

Bill Rights wrote:

What she would have seen was some adult photos and some under 18 non-nude modeling fully covered photos( Yes I know, legal but not moral), nothing more explicit. than you would see in a Sunday supplement or Olympic Balance Beam finals.

United States v. Knox.

The under-18 models do not need to be nude for it to be considered child pornography. If those photos are intermixed with adult fare, he could find himself in a little hot water...

None of the photos depict any sexual acts or suggest sexual acts. Remember he didn't take the photos, they may have been stored next to some adult photos on the computer( the adult photos were nudes, no sexual acts depicted.

Thanks for all the responses. By the way not a mid-term question! This is a real situation.

as long as the roommate present granted permission to enter, the police do not need a warrant as they were (presumably) there with probable cause already. (premise of shared occupancy)

however,

had he been present and denied access, while she granted it- they would be unable to enter.

so from the sound of it, he should hope there is nothing illegal on the computer or anything else searched/seized because it is indeed a legal entrance.

-themack