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CA4: Handing over keys when told officer was searching trunk was not consent to search the whole car; failure to object during search not consent

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

When officer told defendant to get out of the car and he was searching defendant's trunk, defendant's handing over the keys to the officer was not consent to search the whole car. The limit of consent was the trunk. Defendant's silence or failure to object during the search is not acquiescence to the search. (The alternative ground of a protective search of the interior was not supported by reasonable suspicion.) United States v. Neely, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 9111 (4th Cir. April 29, 2009): We begin by addressing the first two factors relied upon by the district court: Neely's decision to hand his keys to Officer Tran and leave the driver's door open after exiting the vehicle. While we acknowledge that non-verbal conduct can be sufficient to establish consent, see, e...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on May 03, 2009 (boomark / email).