United States v. Zoila Melgar

DIANE P. WOOD, Circuit Judge.

Zoila Melgar pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and interstate transportation of counterfeit securities, conditioned on her right to challenge and now to appeal from the district court’s denial of her motion to suppress evidence found inside a purse. The district court relied on the “inevitable discovery” doctrine to support its ruling, but we conclude that there is a more straightforward way to reach the same result. The purse was discovered by the police during the course of a search to which the renter of the hotel room had validly…