Free Criminal Case Evaluation Reviewed by an Experienced Attorney   State where incident occurred Select a state Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming City where incident occurred Please select state first. Enter your Zip Code   Get A Free Case Evaluation From An Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney. It's Fast and Free!

When police rely on consent to justify a search, the consent must be given by someone who has actual or apparent authority to allow police entry into the house. However, the consent can be revoked by any other person who has actual or apparent authority to allow (or forbid) police entry into the house and who is present in the house. Once H revokes consent, police cannot obtain consent from W. Neither spouse's ability to consent to a search is more powerful than the other's. The result is a stalemate.

Remembering that it is the resident's expectation of privacy, it would not make sense for one lawful resident to control another's right to privacy against his concurrent and express assertion of that right.

(Updated December 5, 2007)