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CA8: Defendant was too intoxicated to consent to a search

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officers reasonably believed that the defendant consented to an entry, but could not reasonably believe he consented to a search of the premises and admitted that they believed he was too intoxicated to consent. If one cannot consent expressly, he cannot consent impliedly. United States v. Castellanos, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 5258 (8th Cir. March 12, 2008): Keeping in mind "[t]he precise question is not whether [Castellanos] consented, but whether his conduct would have caused a reasonable person to believe that he consented," United States v. Jones, 254 F.3d 692, 695 (8th Cir. 2001) (citation omitted), we agree with the government that the record indicates the officers reasonably believed Castellanos did not object to the officers following him into the living room...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 13, 2008 (boomark / email).