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IA: Consent search of house was invalid, but consent search of car was valid

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The search of defendant’s car was by consent, but after that, the search of defendant’s residence was not. He was trying to make a plane to his mother’s funeral and wasn’t going unless he consented, and he was transported to his house 19 minutes in handcuffs. That was inherently coercive, and the facts found by the trial court are supported by the record. State v. Dougherty, 2011 Iowa App. LEXIS 87 (February 9, 2011): The district court credited that testimony in finding, “It was well known that going to his mother’s service was very important to the Defendant and that he had only a limited time within which he could make his flight.” Giving due deference to this implied credibility finding, we agree with the court that Dougherty’s consent was not voluntary because of the subtle coercion employed by the officers in this case...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 12, 2011 (boomark / email).