Opinion ID: 2999797
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Heading: Consent to Search DiModica’s Home

Text: A search conducted without a warrant is considered per se unreasonable and a violation of the Fourth Amendment No. 05-4164 7 unless the search falls within a specifically established exception. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S. Ct. 507, 514 (1967). An exception to the general rule permits searches based upon the voluntary consent of a person authorized to provide consent. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 222, 93 S. Ct. 2041, 2045 (1973). “The consent of one who possesses common authority over premises or effects is valid against the absent, non-consenting person with whom that authority is shared.” United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 170, 94 S. Ct. 988, 993 (1974). The district court found that Anita’s consent to search the residence was sufficient based upon the Supreme Court’s holding in Matlock. In Matlock, officers arrested the defendant in the yard of his residence. Matlock, 415 U.S. at 166. The officers never asked the defendant (a boarder) which room he occupied or whether he would consent to a search. Id. Instead, the officers placed defendant in a nearby squad car and then obtained permission to search defendant’s residence from one of his co-tenants. Id. at 179. The Court concluded that the officers did not have to obtain defendant’s consent prior to the search when a third party with joint occupancy consented to the search. DiModica argues that his case should instead be governed by Georgia v. Randolph, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S. Ct. 1515 (2006), which was decided by the Supreme Court after his suppression hearing. In Randolph, the defendant’s wife complained to the police regarding a domestic dispute. Randolph, 126 S. Ct. at 1519. When the officers arrived at their residence, the defendant’s wife told the officers that her husband was a drug user. Id. The officers asked the defendant for permission to search his house, and he refused. Id. The police then turned to the defendant’s wife and asked for her consent to search. Id. She consented, and the police searched the residence. Id. The Court found that the warrantless search was unreasonable and held that “a 8 No. 05-4164 physically present inhabitant’s express refusal of consent to a police search is dispositive as to him, regardless of the consent of a fellow occupant.” Id. at 1528. DiModica argues that Randolph controls because had he not been illegally arrested and removed from the scene, he would have refused to allow the police to search his home. The present matter is distinguishable from Randolph. Unlike the defendant and his wife in Randolph, DiModica and his wife were not standing together at the doorway, one consenting to the search while the other refused. The officers never asked DiModica for permission to search his house. Additionally, DiModica never told the officers that they could not search his house. The Supreme Court in Randolph preserved its holding in Matlock, stating: we have to admit, we are drawing a fine line; if a potential defendant with self-interest in objecting is in fact at the door and objects, the co-tenant’s permission does not suffice for a reasonable search, whereas the potential objector, nearby but not invited to take part in the threshold colloquy, loses out. Randolph, 126 S. Ct. at 1527. DiModica argues that the police removed him from the entrance of his house for the sake of avoiding a possible objection to the subsequent search. However, DiModica fails to distinguish his case from Matlock. We agree with the district court that there are differences between the instant case and Matlock, but the differences are immaterial. The officers did not remove DiModica to avoid his objection; they legally arrested DiModica based on probable cause that he had committed domestic abuse. Once DiModica was arrested and removed from the scene, Anita’s consent alone was valid and permitted the officers to legally search the residence. No. 05-4164 9