Illinois v. Rodriguez
United States Supreme Court
497 U.S. 177 (1990)
A woman who had moved out of Rodriguez's (defendant) apartment weeks earlier, but retained a key without his knowledge, let police into the apartment using that key so they could arrest him after she reported being beaten by him; officers found drugs and paraphernalia in plain view. The trial court suppressed the evidence, holding the woman lacked actual authority to admit police and that the Fourth Amendment was violated even if police reasonably believed she had that authority.
Whether a warrantless home entry and subsequent search are constitutional where police reasonably believed the person consenting to their entry had authority to do so, even though that person in fact lacked such authority.