Friday, April 27, 2007

Co-tenant Can Object to Search Even if Other Occupant Consents. Georgia v Randolph 126 S. Ct. 1515; 164 L. Ed. 2d 208

A physically present co-occupant's stated refusal to permit entry renders warrantless entry and search unreasonable and invalid as to him. A disputed invitation, without more, gives an officer no better claim to reasonableness in entering than the officer would have absent any consent. Disputed permission is no match for the Fourth Amendment central value of "respect for the privacy of the home," Wilson v. Layne, 526 U.S. 603, 610, 119 S. Ct. 1692, 143 L. Ed. 2d 818, and the State's other countervailing claims do not add up to outweigh it.