Can my roomate give consent to search my room?

Question

If I share a 3 bedroom apt. can a roomate allow the police in for a search? Would this be admissable?

Answer 1

It would see that a roommate CAN give the police consent to search...

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/colb/20050518.html

Answer 2

Yes it would be. There are some things to be aware of however. Your roomate cannot give a police officer consent to search inside somthing that is in your room.
I'm guessing that what happened is a cop came in and wanted to look in your room for somthing. Your roomate can authorize the cop to go in your room, but cannot authorize that cop to open your dresser drawers or look in your cabinets. For him to find somthing it would have to be in "plain sight".
If he found somthing in "plain sight" it is gonna hold up in court. Let's say he saw a bag of weed sitting on your nightstand... your gonna get charged and the cop is gonna win. If he cut open your matress and found it however it isn't gonna stand up.
The tricky part is convincing the judge in some way that what the cop found wasn't in plain sight. How are you gonna tell the court that "Well I always hide my drugs in a false drawer in my dresser". If your in a situation like this the best thing to do is to plea bargain with the DA.
Anyway about the 3 bdroom apt thing. Any room in an apt that both people are on the lease for are consided common rooms. Meaning that regardless of the agreement between you and your roomate, legally your roomate has ownership over the entire apt and can authorize people to enter any room. If your roomate is NOT on the lease then you may have some leverage.

Answer 3

Yes if he is paying the rent, or a portion thereof, he may invite anyone in. Therefore he may consent to allow a police search of the premises. If they have a warrant, they may generally search in all areas, unless they are looking for something large, such as an elephant, then they could not look in a bureau drawer. You also have the doctrine of "Plain View", whereby if you leave your grass, and rolling papers in plain view, even if not mentioned in a warrant, they become evidence, and you may be arrested.

Answer 4

If the police have a search warrant, it's not going to be for one area, and it won't have directions to leave out 1 room. If they have a warrant , it covers every area of the apartment - including every room / space. Now would be a good time to get rid of whatever it is you're worried about..

Answer 5

Eric D is correct. The US courts have held that a roommate can let someone search the general areas of your home, but not where the roommate doesn't normally go...ie your room.
So, moral to the story, dont let your roommate hang out in your room.

Answer 6

sure and no. you may nicely be searched by utilising an officer without "reason" as a factor of the condition of your probation. case in point, if the condition of your probation substitute into to have a county deputy seek your place for narcotics a week then it extremely is a courtroom order from a choose and it observed due technique of regulation. If a police officer stopped you in the time of a lawful end, they might legally seek you. yet a police officer who's usual with you're on probation won't be able to legally end you for no reason and seek you. you nevertheless have constitutional rights even below probation.

Answer 7

If your roomate shares your room he can give consent. If his name is on the lease, he can give consent, unless you have a lock on your door that has a key and they kicked your door in then your probably screwed. If you are the apartment lessee and your roomate pays you then he can't give consent.

Answer 8

he can authorize a search of common areas and his personal room the others need your permission or a search warrent

Answer 9

Well... do you all rent and share a unit? Then the landlord has the last word, and if he authorizes the roommate, then yes

Answer 10

I doubt that it would be.