MA: Consent to search dorm room was not voluntary

The state did not prove voluntary consent to search defendant’s college dormitory room where officers came to the door and said that they wanted to search the room and filled out a consent to search form. Commonwealth v. Carr, 458 Mass. 295, 936 N.E.2d 883 (2010), aff’g Commonwealth v. Carr, 76 Mass. App. Ct. 41, 918 N.E.2d 847 (2009).

Defendant was stopped because he was acting suspiciously in an area known for burglaries. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant. When in booking, burglary tools and gloves with embedded glass were taken from him. Officers also photographed the sole of his boots, the imprint of which was used to connect him to a burglary. The seizure of the boots to photograph them was not done under any kind of jail inventory policy, and the motion to suppress the photographs should have been granted under the Oregon Constitution. Inevitable discovery also did not apply. State v. Hartman, 238 Ore. App. 582, 243 P.3d 480 (2010)* [Note: I don’t think this case would be followed outside of Oregon].