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Keywords

defendantappeal

defendantappealmotion

Related Cases

Fernandez v. California, 571 U.S. 292, 134 S.Ct. 1126, 188 L.Ed.2d 25, 82 USLW 4102, 14 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 1936, 2014 Daily Journal D.A.R. 2222, 24 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 553

Facts

Defendant Walter Fernandez was arrested after police responded to a report of a violent robbery and heard screams coming from an apartment. Upon arrival, they found Roxanne Rojas, who appeared battered, and after removing Fernandez from the apartment, Rojas provided both oral and written consent for the police to search the premises. The search yielded evidence linking Fernandez to the robbery, leading to his conviction for robbery and other charges.

Police officers observed a suspect in a violent robbery run into an apartment building, and heard screams coming from one of the apartments. They knocked on the apartment door, which was answered by Roxanne Rojas, who appeared to be battered and bleeding. When the officers asked her to step out of the apartment so that they could conduct a protective sweep, petitioner came to the door and objected.

Issue

Whether the police could conduct a warrantless search of an apartment based on the consent of a co-occupant when the defendant was not present and had previously objected to the search.

Rule

Consent searches are permissible warrantless searches when one occupant of jointly occupied premises consents, provided that the objecting occupant is not physically present to refuse consent.

Consent searches are permissible warrantless searches, Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 228, 231–232, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854, and are clearly reasonable when the consent comes from the sole occupant of the premises.

Analysis

The Court applied the rule from Georgia v. Randolph, which states that the consent of one occupant is insufficient when another occupant is present and objects. However, in this case, the Court found that since Fernandez was not present when Rojas consented to the search, the Randolph exception did not apply. The Court emphasized that the physical presence of the objecting occupant is a controlling factor in determining the validity of consent.

The Court's opinion went to great lengths to make clear that its holding was limited to situations in which the objecting occupant is present. Again and again, the opinion of the Court stressed this controlling factor.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the California Court of Appeal, holding that the warrantless search was lawful based on Rojas' consent, as Fernandez was not present to object at the time of the search.

The judgment of the California Court of Appeal is affirmed.

Who won?

The State of California prevailed in the case because the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the warrantless search based on the consent of Rojas, who was present and able to give consent.

The California Court of Appeal affirmed. It held that because petitioner was not present when Rojas consented to the search, the exception to permissible warrantless consent searches of jointly occupied premises that arises when one of the occupants present objects to the search, Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103, 126 S.Ct. 1515, 164 L.Ed.2d 208, did not apply, and therefore, petitioner's suppression motion had been properly denied.

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