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AL: Minor can consent to search of parent's house

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Alabama decides to join the majority of jurisdictions that conclude that a minor has sufficient joint control in her parents' house to consent to a search under the following standard: Accordingly, the State of Alabama must affirmatively answer the following questions in order to support a contention that a person under the age of 18 provided valid third-party consent to a request to a conduct a warrantless search: First, did the minor live in the home or share the premises with the absent parent? Second, did the minor have the right of access to the premises searched and the right to invite others to the premises? Third, did the totality of the circumstances indicate that the police were reasonable in their determination that the minor had sufficient control over the premises? Finally, did the facts attendant to the encounter -- including the minor's age, maturity, and intelligence -- indicate that the minor could exercise sufficient discretion to freely, knowingly, and voluntarily consent to the search and not merely acquiesce to a request of a police officer? Failure to satisfy all four prongs of this test will preclude a finding that the minor gave valid third-party consent...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on May 08, 2009 (boomark / email).