PEOPLE v GOFORTH (concurring)
LC No. 95-DA5836 AR
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN
Oakland Circuit Court
SCOTT DEAN GOFORTH,
Before: O’Connell, P.J., and Markman and M.J. Talbot,* JJ.
O’CONNELL, P.J. (concurring).
I concur with the majority, but write separately
to emphasize that, excepting the most unusual of situations, a
parent always has the right to consent to the search of the bedroom
of a child residing with that parent. As stated in LaFave &
Israel, Criminal Procedure (2d ed), § 3.10(e), p 242,
If a son or daughter, whether or not still a minor, is residing
in the home of the parents, generally it is within the authority
of the father or mother to consent to a police search of that
home which will be effective against the offspring. This is unquestionably
so as to areas of common usage, and is also true of the bedroom
of the son or daughter when a parent has ready access for purposes
of cleaning it or when because of the minority of the offspring
the parent is still exercising parental authority.
In other words, "[t]he parent’s rights are ‘superior to the
rights of children who live in the house,’ which means . . . that
the parent’s consent would be effective even when the child was
present and objecting." W. LaFave, 2 Search and Seizure,
§ 8.4 (1978).
In the present case, defendant, though not a minor, resided with
his mother, who had "ready access" to clean his room
and to gather laundry. Unquestionably, the mother could validly
consent to the search.
/s/ Peter D. O’Connell