People v. Webb, 2014 CO 36

Parole officer and detective visited A.W. (Webb's adult son) at his mother's house and found methamphetamine residue on spoons under A.W.'s bed and a syringe testing positive for methamphetamine in a visitor's backpack; A.W. and the visitor appeared under the influence.
Detective obtained a warrant to search the residence and collect urine samples from A.W. and the visitor; the warrant authorized search of the premises and "all property real or personal" for methamphetamine, paraphernalia, and indicia of occupancy.
During execution, Webb elected to leave; police escorted her to her unlocked bedroom to retrieve her purse and told her they would need to search it first; they found two short straw pieces with methamphetamine residue in a zippered pocket.
Police also recovered additional drug paraphernalia in Webb's dresser and on her bed.
Webb was charged with possession of methamphetamine and paraphernalia and moved to suppress the purse evidence; the trial court denied suppression for items in the bedroom generally but suppressed the purse evidence, reasoning it was unreasonable and Webb had a heightened privacy expectation in her purse.
The People appealed interlocutorily; the Supreme Court reviews factual findings for competence and legal conclusions de novo.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether searching Webb's purse was within the scope of the search warrant	Warrant authorized search of all property on premises for methamphetamine and paraphernalia; purse was on bed in an accessible bedroom	Webb argued heightened expectation of privacy in her purse and it was unreasonable to think A.W. would hide contraband there	Search of purse was within the warrant's scope and reasonable; suppression reversed
Whether the relationship or usage dynamics (mother/son) affect objective reasonableness to search a container	Execution of a valid warrant controls scope; containers reasonably able to hold contraband may be searched	Trial court relied on relationship and frequency of purse use to deem hiding contraband unreasonable	Relationship dynamics are irrelevant to objective reasonableness once a valid warrant exists

People v. Medina, 25 P.3d 1216 (Colo. 2001) (standard for reviewing mixed questions of law and fact on suppression)
People v. Gothard, 185 P.3d 180 (Colo. 2008) (deference to trial court factual findings)
Henderson v. People, 879 P.2d 383 (Colo. 1994) (probable cause and place-to-be-searched principles)
People v. Lucero, 483 P.2d 968 (Colo. 1971) (areas "under the control" of suspect may be searched)
People in Interest of D.F.L., 931 P.2d 448 (Colo. 1997) (closed containers may be searched if contraband might reasonably be found within)
United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798 (U.S. 1982) (scope of search of containers during a lawful search)
Maryland v. Garrison, 480 U.S. 79 (U.S. 1987) (scope of lawful search defined by object and places probable cause points to)
People v. McMillon, 892 P.2d 879 (Colo. 1995) (probable cause to search a vehicle extends to containers, including a passenger's purse)
People v. Lot 23, 707 P.2d 1001 (Colo. App. 1985) (test for whether contraband might reasonably be secreted in a container)