CA11: Record supports third-party consent argued but not decided below

Defendant operated through a corporate website running a gold bullion scam where money was received and no gold delivered. Another corporate employee with administrative privileges received complaints and looked in the non-public parts of the website to print evidence for federal investigators. The district court decided it on lack of standing. The court of appeals instead decides on third-party consent. “Courts have likewise concluded that an employer having administrative access to an employee’s computer could validly consent to a search of the computer, even when the computer is password-protected and contains non-work-related, personal files of the employee. United States v. Ziegler, 474 F.3d 1184, 1192 (9th Cir. 2007).” While consent wasn’t decided below, it was the focus of the hearing, and the record made supports this result under this alternate theory. “Both our Court and the Supreme Court have issued decisions that, while not totally on point, make clear that an organization’s status as the legal owner of the premises searched or information obtained is not the dispositive factor as to whether an individual affiliated with that company or organization, and the objects searched, might not also enjoy Fourth Amendment protection in connection with the search.” United States v. Waddell, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 40248 (11th Cir. Dec. 23, 2020).