Opinion ID: 2634741
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Entry to Morse's bedroom

Text: ¶ 41 The Mathe common authority rule applies only when the nonconsenting coinhabitant is absent. Thompson, 151 Wash.2d at 804, 92 P.3d 228. If an equal coinhabitant is present and able to object at the time of the search, police must obtain that person's consent as well for the search to be valid as to him or her. Walker, 136 Wash.2d at 683-84, 965 P.2d 1079. ¶ 42 We have never addressed whether a coinhabitant with an inferior interest may consent to a search as to a superior coinhabitant. Nor have we considered what law enforcement officers must do if a coinhabitant is present but elsewhere on the premises when a search begins and the coinhabitant's presence is discovered during the search. [3] Neither question need be answered here, however, because Dangel was not a coinhabitant and did not have either common authority or apparent authority over the premises. Therefore, she was not authorized to allow the police officers to enter the apartment in the first place, much less enter Morse's bedroom.