NCJ Number
129791
Journal
Crime to Court Dated: (November 1990) Pages: 15-16
Date Published
1990
Length
2 pages
Annotation
Several judicial decisions have established legal doctrines concerning the authority of the police to conduct warrantless searches based on a third party's consent to the search.
Abstract
The United States Supreme Court's decision in Illinois v. Rodriguez cited the decision in Stoner v. California which stated that it is not reasonable for police to believe that a hotel clerk has the authority to consent to the search of a hotel guest's room. In Archibald v. Mosel, the court held that warrantless police entry to arrest a person who was erroneously thought to be an escaping violent felon was valid because the police belief was reasonable in the circumstances. Brinegar v. United States established the principle that police mistakes in judgment will be excused if such mistakes were those of reasonable people acting on facts leading sensibly to their conclusions of probability. Finally, the majority opinion in Illinois v. Rodriguez rejected Justice Marshall's dissenting view that only a warrant or exigent circumstances could produce reasonableness to justify a search based on the police's erroneous reliance on third-party consent.