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M.D.Ala.: Defendant's consent after detailed questions about his travels, reasonably answered, still led to consent

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant’s consent to a search of the car at the conclusion of a traffic stop was voluntary and not coerced. United States v. Morelos-Ayala, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30365 (M.D. Ala. January 28, 2011).* Interesting is the fairly intense series questions, none of which revealed any real reasonable suspicion, which would only be directed at somebody the officer suspected was hauling drugs: The tape shows that when defendant Morelos, the driver of the Accord, stopped his vehicle, Autery approached the passenger side and obtained Morelos’ license and registration, explained why he had stopped the car, and told Morelos that he was going to write him a warning ticket. Autery instructed Morelos to come back with him to the patrol car so he could get some information, and Morelos complied...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 28, 2011 (boomark / email).