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Search & Seizure

By: Derek Hawkins//August 10, 2015//

Search & Seizure

By: Derek Hawkins//August 10, 2015//

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Criminal

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: POSNER, EASTERBROOK, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Search & Seizure

No. 15-1115 United States of America v. Bodie Witzlib

Consent trumps officer’s refusal to obtain warrant prior to searching of home for explosives.

“The grandmother owned the house but Witzlib also resided there and he argues that therefore his consent was required. We don’t think so. It would be one thing had the police wanted to search his bedroom. To say that the owner of the house could consent to such a search would be as unreasonable as saying that a hotel’s owner or manager could consent to a police search of all the guest rooms. See Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103, 112 (2006); Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S. 83, 88–90 (1998); cf. Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91 (1990). Or that the person refusing consent had a lesser right to decide whether to permit the search than the person granting consent did, for example if they were a married couple and the search would be of their joint household, as in Georgia v. Randolph.”

Affirmed.

Full Text


Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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