holding that, although son was eighteen years old and paid rent, mother could consent to search of son’s bedroom, where nothing suggested mother lacked access to room
How later courts described this case
- holding that, although son was eighteen years old and paid rent, mother could consent to search of son’s bedroom, where nothing suggested mother lacked access to room
- "[D]efendant's mother's preliminary hearing examination testimony demonstrated that she did, in fact, have access to and control over defendant's room." Id.
- "[Djefendant’s mother’s preliminary hearing examination testimony demonstrated that she did, in fact, have access to and control over defendant’s room.” Id.
- although son was 18 years old and paid rent, nothing indicated that mother lacked access to the room
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
O’Connell, P.J.
(concurring). I concur with the majority, but write separately to emphasize that, excepting the most unusual of situations, a parent always has the right to consent to the search of the bedroom of a child residing with that parent. As stated in LaFave & Israel, Criminal Procedure (2d ed), § 3.10(e), p 242:
If a son or daughter, whether or not still a minor, is residing in the home of the parents, generally it is within the authority of the father or mother to consent to a police search of that home which will be effective against the offspring. This is unquestionably so as to areas of common usage, and is also true of the bedroom of the son or daughter when a parent has ready access for purposes of cleaning it or when because of the minority of the offspring the parent is still exercising parental authority.
In other words, “[t]he parent’s rights are ‘superior to the rights of children who live in the house,’ which means . . . that the parent’s consent would be effective even when the child was present and objecting.” LaFave, 3 Search and Seizure (3d ed), § 8.4(b), p 768.
In the present case, defendant, though not a minor, resided with his mother, who had “ready access” to *318 clean his room and to gather laundry. Unquestionably, the mother could validly consent to the search.