FL4: Practically naked beaten girlfriend locked out of apartment who said she had key inside had apparent authority to consent

Defendant’s girlfriend who had lived with him for two months had apparent authority to consent to a search. Her being found practically naked and beaten outside the apartment suggested she was connected to the apartment. The fact she was not on the lease meant nothing as to apparent authority. Ferguson v. State, 58 So. 3d 360 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011):

. . . In this case, Ferrell told the officers that she had been living with appellant for two months. Certainly, her presence outside the apartment practically naked and beaten would indicate to the officers that she had some connection to the premises. Unlike [United States v.] McGee, the appellant did not deprive her of her key, and even though she did not have a key prior to entry, the officer confirmed that a key to the apartment was in her purse. Like McGee, Ferrell was trying to move out of the apartment, when appellant stopped her by pushing her out of the house without either her clothes or her purse. Certainly, if appellant wanted to deprive Ferrell of her access and right to come into the apartment, he would have thrown all of her property out of the apartment.

Appellant relies on the fact that the property manager of the apartment complex told the officer that he could not use a key to admit Ferrell to the apartment, because she was not on the lease. From this, he posits that the officers did not have a reasonable belief that she had the authority to consent. He mixes, however, the concepts of actual authority and apparent authority. The fact that Ferrell was not on the lease is not dispositive of her claim of actual authority. Under the unusual circumstances of this case, where neither appellant nor Ferrell was on the lease as a tenant, the lease has little bearing on whether Ferrell had actual authority to consent.