US judge legally recognises ‘friends with benefits’

A New Jersey Judge has ruled that a man’s fourth amendment rights to not have his home searched without a warrant extends to the home of his “friend with benefits”.

The ruling suggests that the home of a casual sexual acquaintance carries the same legal protections as the home of a girlfriend or boyfriend.

In a 13 May ruling, Judge Susan Wigenton made her legal judgement in the case of a now 28-year-old man charged with dealing heroin and weapons violations who was arrested at the home of his friend with benefits.

Najee Brantley was arrested in July 2018 at the home of a woman he had slept with once before. A Gucci-branded bag was seized by law enforcement, containing 109 vials of heroin and a semi-automatic handgun.

Police in Paterson, northwest of New York City, had a warrant for the arrest of Brantley, but they didn’t have a warrant that would allow them to legally search his home. According to the judge, his home extended to the residence of his friend with benefits, Bahjane Reels.

Prosecutors argued that Brantley didn’t enjoy fourth amendment protections at the home of Ms Reels, meaning his personal belongings could be searched without a search warrant being required.

Judge Wigenton instead ruled that the defence lawyers were standing on solid legal ground when they challenged the seizure of Brantley’s belongings if the warrant wasn’t broad enough in its scope.

“This court accepts that the defendant was more than a short-term guest at Ms Reels’ apartment and thus had standing to challenge any subsequent warrantless search of his belongings,” the judge said.

“To the extent that the government suggests that the defendant’s ‘friends with benefits’ relationship categorically fails to merit the protection of an ‘overnight guest’, this court disagrees,” she added.

Brantley and Ms Reels were arrested on 26 July 2018. Brantley was charged with narcotics and firearms violations. He had multiple outstanding warrants and was arrested in 2015 for selling heroin near a school. He has also been convicted on felony charges.

Ms Reels was arrested on charges relating to “hindering apprehension”. Both of them told authorities that their relationship wasn’t serious. Brantley said it was his second time staying with her, adding that she was not his girlfriend.

The Daily Mail reported that Ms Reels said in court: “Me and him haven’t been talking and he hit me up saying that he needed somewhere to stay. And me being the person that I am, I told him ‘come on’.”

Police received a tip that Brantley was at the home of Ms Reels’ and arrived at her residence 10 to 15 minutes later at around 10am.

She opened the door and the officers entered the home and went into the bedroom where they found Brantley in just his underwear, hiding under the bed. He was handcuffed and asked if he had any clothes to wear.

When he indicated that he had some black sweatpants and a t-shirt in a corner of the room, an officer picked them up, finding the fanny pack with the drugs and weapon underneath.

Brantley has been in jail since, with his trial, initially scheduled for April 2020, being pushed back because of the Covid-19 pandemic.