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GA: Occupants of a "drug house" who denied connection to it had no standing against landlord's consent

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The landlord of a rented house came by to check on it, and he saw three cars he did not recognize parked outside, broken windows, and a security door that he did not put there. He knocked on the door, announcing that he was “property management” but nobody came out. He parked nearby and watched. A woman who was not the tenant came out who he talked to and she denied any knowledge of anything going on there. The landlord could smell burnt marijuana. He called the police who came, and the landlord entered with the police. Inside, three men were found, one sleeping, and everybody denied living there or any connection to the property. Drugs and firearms were in plain view. The defendants had no standing to contest the search of a common “drug house,” so the trial court’s suppression order of the house is reversed...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on September 06, 2010 (boomark / email).