United States v. Marlon Moore

Defendant Marlon Moore appeals from his conviction and sentence for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 . Moore contends that the district court erred in deny ing his motion to suppress evidence that law enforcement officials obtained through a search of his residence. Moore argues that the search of his residence was unlawful under Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103, 126 S.Ct. 1515 , 164 L.Ed.2d 208 (2006), because, even though his fiancée consented to the search of their joint residence, he was present at the residence and did not consent.

We hold today that the district court correctly determined that the search of Moore’s residence did not violate the Fourth Amendment. Randolph requires that the resident who is refusing consent both be present at the house and expressly refuse to allow the search. See 547 U.S. at 122-23 , 126 S.Ct. 1515 . Here, Moore never expressly refused to consent. To the contrary, he refused to come to the door and acquiesced in letting his fiancée, who also lived there, deal with the police. Accordingly, we affirm the conviction and sentence.

BACKGROUND

In January of 2012, Moore was living in a…