State v. Morse

¶1 Under article I, section 7 of the Washington Constitution, warrantless searches are per se unreasonable. Exceptions to the warrant requirement are jealously and carefully drawn. Properly obtained, consent to a warrantless search is one of those carefully drawn exceptions. Although Robert James Morse was at home, police gained entry into his apartment by obtaining the consent of a houseguest who, with her husband, had been at Morse’s apartment for only five days. The police did not have a search warrant, were looking for another person, and did not obtain Morse’s permission to search his…