Fernandez V. California Fourth Amendment Upheld Essay

Fernandez v. California: Fourth Amendment Upheld? POL 303 August 4, 2013 The Merit case of Fernandez v. California is seeking to determine whether the Constitutional rights of Walter Fernandez were violated under the 4th Amendment when law enforcement conducted a search of his residence upon obtaining consent from his girlfriend, who was also a resident, after Fernandez was taken into custody (and had stated his objections to the search while at the scene). In Georgia v. Randolph (2006), in a 5 to 3 decision, the Supreme Court held that when two co-occupants are present and one consents to a search while the other refuses, the search is not constitutional. This paper will provide a statement of the decision, based on current†¦show more content†¦In Randolph (2006) Justice Souter wrote in the majority opinion, it is fair to say that a caller standing at the door of shared premises would have no confidence that one occupants invitation was a sufficiently good reason to enter when a fellow tenant stood there saying, stay out. Without some very good reason, no sensible person would go inside under those conditions. A police search in such circumstances, Souter wrote, would therefore not meet the reasonableness requirement of the Fourth Amendment. Another case that establishes the premise for determining the validity of the search includes United States v. Matlock. The question before the Court in Matlock was whether the third partys consent for the police to search the defendants house was legally sufficient to render the evidence admissible at trial. Police officers arrested the defendant in his front yard, but did not request his permission to search the house. Instead, some of the police officers approached the house and requested permission to search from Mrs. Graff, who lived in the house with defendant. Mrs. Graff consented to the search and the officers found nearly $5,000 in cash in a closet. Both the district court and the court of appeals excluded the evidence from the trial, finding that Mrs. Graff did not have the authority to consent to the search. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to settle this evidentiary issue. Justice White, for the Court, espoused theShow MoreRelatedCase Study : Fernandez V. California1 053 Words   |  5 PagesCase Name: Fernandez v. California, 134 S. Ct. 1126 (2014) Factual History: In Los Angeles, California during the month of October and year of 2009, Abel Lopez was attacked and robbed by a man with a knife, he later identified as Walter Fernandez. During the confrontation between Lopez and Fernandez, Fernandez informed Lopez the territory in which Lopez was ruled by the â€Å"Drifters† After Lopez placed a call to 911, a few minutes after the attack, police and paramedics arrived on the scene. Two Los