GA: Brother who had keys and regular access to def’s house could consent to entry to look for defendant; plain view sustained

Police had an anonymous tip that defendant was selling drugs out of his house, so they go there for a knock-and-talk. They encounter his brother coming out of the house and talk to him. He keeps work tools there in a room, and he can come and go. They ask permission to do a walk through to see if anybody is home, and he consents. Inside they see a bedroom that wasn’t his and the room with his tools. In a hallway closet in plain view is crack and marijuana. The brother had actual authority to consent to the mere entry to look around, and the plain view was valid. Niles v. State, 2014 Ga. App. LEXIS 36 (January 24, 2014).*

“Consequently, the delay in bringing the drug-detection dog to the scene of the traffic stop, if any, constituted a ‘modest incremental delay for a person already lawfully arrested,’ which did not unreasonably prolong the traffic stop.” United States v. Guidry, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 184171 (E.D. Wis. December 30, 2013).*

Defendant was stopped for overtinting, and he was found to have consented to a patdown and search of his vehicle. In the patdown they found an unusual object in his groin area. His DL check showed he was on probation, so they Mirandized him, and then he admitted to possessing marijuana. They took him to the front of the car and had him undo his pants, and the marijuana was retrieved. At the jail, a more thorough search produced a bag of crack. The searches were all reasonable. James v. State, 129 So. 3d 1206 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014).*