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M.D.Ala.: Fact defendant was a State Trooper was a factor in voluntariness of consent

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant was in an automatically locked interview room at the police station for several hours in a child abuse investigation, when he finally consented to a search of his computer. He was cooperative throughout. He was a police officer, and he was allowed out of the room twice at his request. He could have asked to leave, and didn’t. His consent was valid. United States v. Stanton, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52817 (M.D. Ala. April 30, 2010): Stanton demonstrated a great willingness to cooperate with police. He agreed to go to the police station, agreed to be interviewed, and agreed to execute a waiver of rights. There is nothing in the record to suggest anything but a willingness to cooperate. There is no evidence of coercive police action...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on June 03, 2010 (boomark / email).