CA10: Consent found from pointing in response to a question

Consent found from pointing to where defendant was hiding. United States v. Livingston, 429 Fed. Appx. 751 (10th Cir. 2011):

Of course, this raises the question whether Ms. Adams actually gave consent. But the answer here is clear. Before entering the bedroom, the officers asked Ms. Adams where Mr. Livingston was located. She responded “in the closet,” pointed in that direction, and stepped out of the bedroom to let the officers in. From this exchange, “reasonable law enforcement officer[s] would have understood” that Ms. Adams consented to the search of the bedroom and closet. United States v. Flores, 48 F.3d 467, 468-69 (10th Cir. 1995); see also United States v. Mains, 33 F.3d 1222, 1227 (10th Cir. 1994). While she did not expressly tell the officers to come in, Ms. Adams’s “non-verbal conduct” in pointing to the closet and stepping out of the bedroom constituted a voluntary consent to search. See, e.g., United States v. Gordon, 173 F.3d 761, 766 (10th Cir. 1999).

The renter of the apartment defendant was staying in had common and apparent authority to consent. [If anything, he had greater authority compared to defendant who was an occasional visitor.] United States v. Bone, 433 Fed. Appx. 831 (11th Cir. 2011).*