Police officers went to the Palacios home looking for a fugitive named Bass. Shannon Palacios gave consent to search the house. She did not specifically say they could or could not enter a back bedroom, which had been rented out. Although the back bedroom had a key lock, it was not locked. Officers found Enslin in a back bedroom and saw in plain sight a gun in the bed next to him. They arrested Enslin and subsequently charged him with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The district court found that the search was lawful because Shannon Palacios consented to the search and had authority to do so. The appellate court affirmed. Palacios voluntarily consented to the search. Assuming that she did not have the authority to authorize a search of the back bedroom, which had been rented to another, the officers reasonably relied on her apparent authority to do so.
Case Summaries