United States v. Bermel, No. 22-3092 (8th Cir. 2023)
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The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit heard an appeal from Jacob Bermel, who had pleaded guilty to two child pornography offenses following the denial of his motion to suppress evidence that was found on a camera he had hidden in his daughter's bathroom. Bermel argued that the warrantless seizure and subsequent search of the camera and its memory card violated his Fourth Amendment rights. However, the district court found that the seizure was justified by exigent circumstances and that the search was lawful due to the daughter's consent.
On appeal, Bermel made three arguments: (1) minor children cannot consent to a search of their parents' property, (2) even if minors can consent, his daughter lacked such authority, and (3) the district court erred in finding that his daughter had consented to the search of the camera and memory card.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision. It rejected Bermel's first argument, stating that there is no legal precedent for a per se rule that minors cannot consent to a search of their parents' property. The court also found that the daughter had apparent authority to consent to the search given her joint access and control over the camera and its memory card. Finally, the court determined that the daughter had indeed consented to the search of the camera and its memory card. The court noted that lack of verbal response did not negate consent and the scope of her consent reasonably extended to the camera's memory card.
Court Description: [Gruender, Author, with Loken and Benton, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. The court rejects a per se rule that a minor can never consent to the search of a parent's property; here, the daughter had apparent authority over the camera and its memory card as she had joint access and control over the bathroom, the camera, and the card, and could lawfully consent to the search of the camera and car; the record supported the district finding that the daughter consented to the search and that her consent to search encompassed both the camera and its internal memory card.
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