United States v. Sharon Legail Welch

Sharon Legail Welch appeals her criminal convictions on the basis that the district court erroneously denied her motion to suppress incriminating evidence seized from her purse. We agree that the search of Welch’s purse violated her Fourth Amendment rights and therefore reverse and remand.

I. Background

Welch and her co-defendant David Anthony McGee were gambling at the Circus Circus Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada when casino employees became suspicious that they were passing counterfeit twenty-dollar bills. Welch and McGee were escorted to the casino security office where they were interviewed. Eleven counterfeit bills were found in McGee’s handbag. At some point McGee was taken into a separate room where he gave written consent to a search of the rental car that he and Welch had driven to Las Vegas. Security officers located the automo bile in the parking lot and found several pieces of luggage and a woman’s purse in the trunk. The officers opened the clasped purse and discovered Welch’s driver’s license and $500 in counterfeit twenty-dollar bills. They then returned with the purse to the security office. The bills were protruding from the partially open purse when the officers…