Can a police officer enter an apartment hallway without a warrant?

In People v. Seals, 263 Cal.App.2d 575, 577, 69 Cal.Rptr. 861, this statewide court held that officers can constitutionally enter apartment hallways and other common areas without a warrant or express permission from particular tenants. In the present case, however, officers gained entry to the hallway through a locked door. Appellant argues that in doing so the police committed a trespass in violation of his constitutional rights of privacy and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.

For several reasons, however, we are convinced that under the facts of this case no constitutional violations occurred. First, one of the officers testified that the building's manager had given him a key to the outside door. Even though the key was not used on this particular occasion, its possession by the officers was unrebutted evidence that the police had the manager's permission to enter in the course of their duties. Appellant cannot presume to control the right of other tenants, or particularly the manager as the owner's agent, to authorize entry to the building's common areas by nontenants. (See People v. Cruz, 61 Cal.2d 861, 866-867, 40 Cal.Rptr. 841, 395 P.2d 889; People v. Egan, 250 Cal.App.2d 433, 436, 58 Cal.Rptr. 627; cf.

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