United States v. Abel Ike Ruiz

Abel Ike Ruiz pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1). Pursuant to his conditional plea agreement, Ruiz challenges the district court’s denial, after hearing, of his motion to suppress evidence found in a trailer home. He argues that the district court erred in determining that a resident of the home, Charles Boswell, had the authority to consent to the war-rantless search of a gun case found in the home, that the search of the gun case cannot be justified under the exigent circumstances or single-purpose container exceptions, and that all evidence obtained as a result of the allegedly illegal search is inadmissible. We hold that Boswell had apparent authority to consent to the search of the gun case, and we affirm.

I

On February 20, 2003, three Portland police officers accompanied Multnomah County parole officer David Upton to a trailer home in Portland, Oregon. They were looking for Bruce Lagrew, a parolee under Upton’s supervision, because Upton had received anonymous tips that Lagrew possessed firearms in violation of state and federal law and the conditions of his parole.

Upton knocked on the door of the trailer and…