Opinion ID: 4567072
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Voluntariness of Custodial Status

Text: Voluntariness of custodial status turns on whether a reasonable person in the defendant’s position would feel free to terminate the encounter. See United States v. Cavitt, 550 F.3d 430, 439 (5th Cir. 2008). Whether an investigating officer has returned a defendant’s license and documents and has provided the citation as promised are relevant to whether a reasonable person would feel free to terminate the encounter. See id. After Soriano provided Officer Rodriguez with his vehicle’s registration approximately four minutes into the encounter, she continued to retain possession of the registration throughout the period that she questioned Soriano and at the time that he consented to the search. She also informed Soriano that she intended to issue him a citation for driving without a license, yet she had not issued that citation as of the time that he consented to the search. A reasonable person in Soriano’s position “might not have felt free to leave until he was issued the promised [citation] and his [registration] had been returned.” Id. Accordingly, it was not clearly erroneous for the district court to weigh this factor against a finding of voluntariness. 7 Case: 19-50832 Document: 00515571219 Page: 8 Date Filed: 09/18/2020 No. 19-50832