Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas
I have a friend in grand prairie texas that is residing in one room of a home that is owned by a gentleman (landlord) under an oral agreement that in liu of rent, she pay her own utilities, other misc. mutually agreed stips - all of which is verbal with no written rental contracts. She had been living at this home for approx 8 months during and over the course of this time, there were several issues that arose. Came to realize landld was less than emotionally stable - would inexplicably show up in her room naked, have detailed converations/agruments with himslf, very evident ocd behaviors, would walk in her room at any time he chose with her being in various states of undress on occassion. Please keep in mind that upon her moving in she requested that he install a door knob with a lock that she could lock so that he could not enter her room and then a keyed lock from her room to outside she used to come and go. (the rest of the house with exception of his bedroom and private bath were agreed to be common areas. After several requests, she was forced to install her own keyed locks after walking into her room NAKED while she had a female friend visitor in her private room. Even though she made the best efforts to establish these physical boundaries, any time she used the common areas and returned to her room, if she did not choose or remember to lock the inside door he would often come in uninvited. And, I witnessed on several occasions, him entering her room from the outside door as well, uninvited. She was diligent in addressing each incident, being specific with what was inappropriate at best, behavior in clear terms. When she began dating - bear in mind shes 43 and single and her boyfriend 46 - it became evident that the landlord had created delusional ideas in his own mind about the nature of their relationship. The landlord physically threatened her boyfriend for being in her "apt" at late hours, physically threatened him, and consistently referred to his female tennant as a whore, her apt a whorehouse, etc. When it became clear that there would be no romantic relationship between LL/tenant, the landlord asked her to move out. Everytime he told her this, she told him that she would move out 30 days following the serving of a formal eviction notice which he never had drafted. Last week, the police arrived while she was outside with her boyfriend. They arrested the tenant due to an outstanding warrant related to traffic violation due to expired license and registration. The kicker is the police asked to entered the residence and after cuffing her the proceed to search the premises and in her living area they found under a gram of Methamp. I am quite certain, but yet to verify if the LL was responsible for the police just randomly showing up - but seems quite obvious he was. My question is, based on a mere verbal tenant agreement in comb with the continual harrassment - (retaliation not being unreasonable to assume) and the fact that her room was in no way secure, the LL have opportunity to enter that room at various times during the day, why is it that they would automatically assume those were her drugs. They did not arrest her boyfriend who was at the house with her (both were outside fixing a bicycle at the time police arrived), and they did not arrest the LL who owned the house? Please advise. And, what are his obligatons to her as a LL - her car in driveway, all her personal belongings, now that she has been incarcerated. How do I protect him from as he's already threatened to do "sell her vehicle for scrap metal"!! Thank You!!
1 Answer from Attorneys
They arrested her because the drugs were found in her bedroom. They did not arrest the boyfriend because he does not live there - even though the drugs could have been his but that is just the way it is done (unless it was found in the pocket of a man's jacket or something like that.) They did not arrest the LL because even though he enters the room seemingly at will, that is her claim as she does have a lock on the door AND it is still her room and not his.
Her defense may be that it was not hers & the LL planted it there. Or that it was not hers and that her BF left it there. If it is advisable, her lawyer may request that the container be fingerprinted. She can also be drug tested if she is not a user and some evidence that it was not hers.
Why is she not out on bond? The bond should not be that high, especially if she is a first offender.
The LL can call the police to his home. He can even do so out of meanness knowing that she has a warrant & will be arrested. This does not change anything about the situation.
Whose permission did the police have to enter her room? Obviously the LL could give permission for them to enter the house. Arguably he could NOT give permission for them to enter her room - especially if it was locked. (Although if I were the prosecutor & heard the story you have provided I would argue that she knew that LL regularly entered her room & she chose to stay & tolerate it despite his requests that she move out so she acquiesced to him controlling the room - which would include permitting a search.) If it was just open, then there is caselaw about what the situation "appears" to be to police - if they reasonably believed that he had authority to let them search, the search is legal. If the facts & circumstances surrounding the situation suggested that the room was hers, rented to hers, and controlled only by her, then the search was not reasonable. (When her lawyer works on the case, s/he will likely have to pick a pony to ride on this issue.)
As far as her personal belongings, if she is going to remain in jail then she need only write a letter in her handwriting (or get it notarized if there is a notary in the jail) authorizing you or whomever to take custody over her property including her personal belongings & car. If the LL will not cooperate, contact the police for an escort to obtain the items.
If she is not paying rent while she is incarcerated, he needs to take steps to legally move her stuff out & he can. He can have it put in storage & if she does not pay the storage it can be sold to cover costs.
She needs a lawyer.
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