United States v. Kevin Stanley

MEMORANDUM

Kevin Stanley conditionally pleaded guilty pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(a)(2) to one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B). He reserved the right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress the offending material located during a search of his computer, a search conducted by federal agents led by Agent Michael Prado. The court concluded that because his girlfriend who consented to the search, Tiana Stockbridge, had the apparent authority to do so, the search of the computer was reasonable.

We have jurisdiction over this timely appeal in accord with 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Whether a third party such as Stanley’s girlfriend has apparent authority to consent to a search of the property of another is an inquiry into the totality of the circumstances, and asks whether the facts available to the police officer at the time of the search would lead a reasonable police officer to believe that the third party could consent to the search. See Illinois v. Rodriguez, 497 U.S. 177, 188 , 110 S.Ct. 2793 , 111 L.Ed.2d 148 (1990). When the property to be searched is a container, the inquiry must examine…