Q: If someone is residing in a motel room, staff calls police due to marijuana odor. Police arrive and staff open door.
The police knocked but the elderly resident (65 yr old woman with 0 priors) is in bathroom and takes longer than they like to answer. Hotel staff key door and allow cops in. First question is this legal? They then found (allegedly in plain view) drugs.
Question 2: resident was visiting for Christmas, her room had several thousand dollars in property: new clothing, jewelry, work laptop, etc etc. she had been in room paid in advance for several days and had one day left prepaid. Hotel staff within 24-48 hours had “donated” everything from her room to goodwill. After checking with every goodwill within 50 miles not a single piece of property was located. Can the hotel just steal your stuff if you are arrested in your room? It was a Ramada inn, thanks for reply!
A: The entry is probably legal bc of the smell of marijuana but the disposition of her property is clearly not legal. She needs to hire a lawyer and sue Ramada.
A: A person does not have a normal expectation of privacy in a hotel room like they would in their own home so the entry in scenario one sounds legitimate. I would contact the police about the missing property. They have more power and resources to investigate and if they end up charging an employee or a manager with theft then then the victim could get full restitution out of a criminal case and avoid paying a lawyer to file a civil case.
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