Opinion ID: 1454001
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Search of Jointly Occupied Premises

Text: Johnson also contends that because Mrs. Morashita did not consent to the search, a warrant should have been obtained because they lived together and she was not a parolee and therefore not subject to the lesser protection afforded parolees. This issue was specifically left open in Velasquez, 672 P.2d at 1260 n. 3. It is well established that consent provides an exception to the general rule prohibiting warrantless searches. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 514, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967); State v. Harris, 671 P.2d 175, 179 (Utah 1983). W. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 8.1 (1987); In the instant case, the trial judge made no finding as to whether Mrs. Morashita consented to the search. We assume arguendo that no consent was given. A warrantless search of a parolee may result in an invasion of privacy, at least to some extent, for those living with the parolee. [3] If the Fourth Amendment rights of nonparolees living with parolees were not reduced, a parolee could avoid all warrantless parole searches by living with a nonparolee and asserting the nonparolee's constitutional rights, and thus emasculate one significant feature of the parole system. Russi v. Superior Court, 33 Cal. App.3d 160, 170, 108 Cal. Rptr. 716, 721 (1973); People v. Kanos, 14 Cal. App.3d 642, 652, 92 Cal. Rptr. 614, 619 (1971). Nevertheless, parolees and their families retain some protection under the Fourth Amendment even though parolees have signed parole agreements expressly allowing warrantless searches. Diaz v. Ward, 437 F. Supp. 678, 686 (S.D.N.Y. 1977). The degree to which those rights are diminished is determined by balancing the privacy interests of the parolee and those living with him or her against the legitimate parole objectives of easing the former law breaker into a productive life. State v. Velasquez, 672 P.2d at 1259. The California Supreme Court stated in People v. Burgener, 41 Cal.3d at 533-54, 714 P.2d at 1269, 224 Cal. Rptr. at 131: A parole search must therefore be directly and closely related to parole supervision in order to avoid unreasonable invasion of the privacy interests of the parolee and those with whom he resides. When a parolee lives with a nonparolee, courts generally hold that the cotenancy restricts, to some degree, the extent of a permissible consent search. The scope of consent impliedly given by a cotenant is limited to those parts of the premises where the tenants possess common authority over or other sufficient relationship to the premises or effects sought to be inspected. United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 171, 94 S.Ct. 988, 993, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (1974). In Matlock, the Court stated: The authority which justifies the third-party consent does not rest upon the law of property, with its attendant historical and legal refinements, ... but rests rather on mutual use of the property by persons generally having joint access or control for most purposes, so that it is reasonable to recognize that any of the co-inhabitants has the right to permit the inspection in his own right and that the others have assumed the risk that one of their number might permit the common area to be searched. Id. at 171 n. 7, 94 S.Ct. at 993 n. 7. Although the defendant in Matlock was not a parolee, the Matlock doctrine applies with equal force in parole cases. See, e.g., State v. Tucker, 118 Ariz. 76, 78, 574 P.2d 1295, 1297, cert. denied, 439 U.S. 846, 99 S.Ct. 144, 58 L.Ed.2d 147 (1978); Silva v. State, 344 So.2d 559, 562 (Fla. 1977); People v. Icenogle, 71 Cal. App.3d 576, 586, 139 Cal. Rptr. 637, 642 (1977); Annotation, Admissibility of Evidence Discovered in search of Defendant's Property or Residence Authorized by One, Other than Relative, Who is Cotenant or Common Resident with Defendant  State Cases, 4 A.L.R.4th 1050, 1067 (1981). It is not necessarily determinative that the nonparolee objects to the search. In People v. Icenogle , the court stated: [E]ven if [the nonparolee] had expressly refused to consent to the officers' search of the apartment, the refusal to give consent ... would have been invalid. 71 Cal. App.3d at 586, 139 Cal. Rptr. at 643. The necessity of preserving the parole system's integrity requires this result. See also United States v. Dally, 606 F.2d 861, 863 (9th Cir.1979); Latta v. Fitzharris, 521 F.2d 246, 250 (9th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 897, 96 S.Ct. 200, 46 L.Ed.2d 130 (1975). Application of the above principles leads us to conclude that the search of a common area in Mrs. Morashita's residence was lawful. Although the trial court did not determine whether Mrs. Morashita actually consented to the search, consent was not required because the items confiscated were found in a hall closet, a common area, and the search was terminated after they were discovered. The search did not extend into those parts of the residence that were under her sole control or possession and, therefore, did not unlawfully invade her right of privacy. Since the search was pursuant to a legitimate concern that the defendant had violated his parole and was based on a reasonable articulable suspicion, the search was lawful.