Opinion ID: 2088953
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admissibility of the Evidence Obtained From the Search of the Gym Bag

Text: Both at the hearing on the motion to suppress as well as at the trial itself, Kennedy urged that the warrantless search of the gym bag found in Gianetti's apartment should result in the suppression of the evidence obtained. Gianetti testified that in July or August, she lent Kennedy a gym bag in which to carry various personal articles of his when he came to see her. When he came to her house, he would normally bring the bag with him. Kennedy used it exclusively. Gianetti could not recall any time she ever got into the bag. If she had wanted the bag back, she would have probably let Kennedy use it until he didn't need it, and then he would give it back to her. She would not have reclaimed the bag without first giving Kennedy the opportunity to remove his possessions from it. On October 9, 1986, when Kennedy arrived at her apartment, he brought the gym bag with him and put it on the dining room table where it remained when they left for work the following day. Other than a scarf that was draped on top of the bag, no other item belonging to Kennedy was visible. On October 10, when Gianetti spoke with FBI agents during their investigation, she told the agents that the bag belonged to her, that she had lent it to Kennedy, and had not used the bag thereafter. The agent acknowledged that he did not ask Gianetti whether she had used the gym bag after loaning it to Kennedy. He did not ask her if she had reached inside the gym bag since that time. When the agents asked Gianetti for permission to search the bag, she was told that, if she did not consent, they would obtain a search warrant. She signed a consent form permitting the search. After obtaining the consent, the agents went to Gianetti's apartment, and went directly to the bag, lifted it, opened it, and searched its contents. Among the items found in the bag were a .41 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, believed to be the murder weapon, a speed loader, and 49 bullets claimed to have come from the box of 50, leaving one missing which was claimed by the State to be the bullet that killed Seagraves. Kennedy testified at the suppression hearing. He indicated that from the time that Gianetti gave him the bag, it was treated as his property and that he could not recall any time that she had ever reached inside it. He acknowledged that the bag had been loaned, not given, to him. When he left the house on the morning of October 10, his intention was to return to her house that evening and leave with the bag and his personal property contained in it. The trial court initially granted Kennedy's motion to supress the evidence obtained from the search. However, the issue was resurrected by the State. The trial court reversed its decision, and allowed the State to introduce evidence obtained during the search. Kennedy argues that this was an invalid search under United States v. Matlock (1974), 415 U.S. 164, 94 S.Ct. 988, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (a third party must have common control over the premises to give valid consent to a warrantless search). We need not decide today whether, under Matlock and its progeny, this search would have been valid. Even if Gianetti lacked authority to consent to a search of the gym bag, a warrantless search is legal if the agents reasonably believe that she had such authority. Illinois v. Rodriguez (1990), ___ U.S. ___, 110 S.Ct. 2793, 111 L.Ed.2d 148. In Rodriguez, the issue was whether a warrantless entry is valid when based upon the consent of a third party whom the police, at the time of the entry, reasonably believe to possess common authority over the premises, but who in fact does not. Id. at ___, 110 S.Ct. at 2796, 111 L.Ed.2d at 155. Police had obtained permission for a warrantless search of the defendant's apartment from the defendant's former girlfriend. The ex-girlfriend had once lived with the defendant in the apartment, but was not at the time she consented to the search, and, therefore, did not have actual authority to give consent to search. The Court concluded, however, that if the facts available to the investigating officer at the time would warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that the consenting party had authority over the premises, the search would not be unreasonable, and accordingly, not invalid. Id. at ___, 110 S.Ct. at 2801, 111 L.Ed.2d at 161. The case was remanded to the Illinois courts for a determination of whether the officers reasonably believed that the ex-girlfriend had the authority to consent to a search. Here, we conclude that the agents had a reasonable belief that Gianetti had the authority to consent to the search of the bag. The agents knew that the bag belonged to Gianetti, and that she expected the bag to be returned to her. Legally, she could reclaim the bag at any time. She could have, had she chosen to, emptied the bag of its contents and placed them on her dining room table for the agents to see. Under the reasoning in Rodriguez, Gianetti's consent was sufficient to provide the agents with the authority to search the bag without a warrant.