CA6: On accidentally discovering cocaine in hotel room, hotel manager can lock out renter and consent

A hotel can terminate the rent on a room and then consent to a search of the room. Here, defendant left the room to go smoke outside, and housekeeping entered mistakenly thinking it had been vacated. The housekeeper smelled marijuana smoke and found cocaine. The police were called, and defendant was locked out of the room. Because defendant’s occupancy was terminated for illegal activity, the hotel could consent. United States v. Spicer, 549 Fed. Appx. 373 (6th Cir. 2013):

A hotel may lawfully terminate a guest’s occupancy for unauthorized activity, including possession of illegal drugs. Id.; see also United States v. Lanier, 636 F.3d 228, 233 (6th Cir. 2011) (finding it “eminently reasonable” for a hotel to terminate occupancy when it “discovers that the guest has been using the room to peddle drugs”). A hotel terminates a guest’s occupancy by taking “justifiable affirmative steps to repossess [a] room … and to assert dominion and control over it,” even if, for some reason, it is unsuccessful in keeping the guest out of the room. United States v. Cunag, 386 F.3d 888, 890, 895 (9th Cir. 2004) (holding that a hotel successfully terminated the defendant’s occupancy where it tried to lock him out after discovering his credit card fraud but the manager later “discovered to his surprise that someone was in the room” when the manager went back to the room with the police). Once the guest’s tenancy is terminated, a hotel employee with hotel given-authority may consent to a search of the guest’s former room. See Allen, 106 F.3d at 699.

The government argues, and the district court found, that the Marriott’s manager had authority to consent to the search of the room because he had terminated Spicer’s occupancy of the room by re-keying the room after finding narcotics. We agree. Our decision in Allen largely dictates this result. After a one-day stay at the Days Inn, Allen paid for another night but not the deposit for telephone charges. 106 F.3d at 697. After a motel clerk noticed that Allen had incurred telephone charges that reduced his credit balance to an amount insufficient to pay for an extra night of lodging, Allen promised the clerk he would increase his balance but did not do so. Id. The manager was informed and he went to Allen’s room and knocked on the door. Id. When there was no answer, the manager, fearing that Allen had left without paying, used her pass key to enter the room. Id. The manager found a large quantity of marijuana in the room. Id. The manager locked the door with a deadbolt lock only she could open, and called the police who searched the room and arrested Allen. Id.