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Fernandez v. California
The One Who Stayed
The facts
Following a violent street robbery in which the Defendant allegedly pulled a knife on the victim and fled with accomplices, officers tracked a suspect to an apartment building and heard screaming and fighting inside. When they knocked, the girlfriend answered holding a baby, crying, with a red face, a bump on her nose, and blood on her shirt and hand. As an officer asked her to step outside, the Defendant appeared in boxer shorts and said, "You don't have any right to come in here. I know my rights," refusing entry. Suspecting he had assaulted the girlfriend, officers removed him and arrested him for domestic battery; a robbery witness separately identified him as the attacker. About an hour later, after the Defendant had been booked, a detective returned, told the girlfriend of the arrest, and asked to search. She gave oral and written consent, and officers found gang items, a knife, clothing tied to the robbery, ammunition, and a hidden sawed-off shotgun. At issue is whether her consent, given once the objecting occupant was gone, was enough to justify the search.
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Every case in GUILTY or NOT? is a genuine published decision. This library carries the facts and the citation for cases that have already appeared in the game, so you can look them up, cite them, or read the judgment in full. The verdict stays in the game. Browse all cases.