A minor child can give consent to search parent's home

In Allen v. State of Alabama, (May 1, 2009), the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, in a matter of first impression, held that a minor can provide a valid third party consent to a request to conduct a warrantless search of his or her parents’ house. Here, the minor was 17 years old. The Court stated that the age and maturity of the child, and whether he lived in the home and had the right of access to the premises should be considered in determining whether such consent was valid under the totality of the circumstances. ATTORNEY COMMENT: The ruling in this case could open the door for police to come to a home, without a search warrant, with full knowledge that a young person or teenager resides therein, and intimidate them into “giving consent” to search the home. The potential for police abuse, in order to do an “end run" around the search warrant requirement, is ever present.