Opinion ID: 222695
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether the Court Failed to Consider Proper Factors

Text: Second, the government argues the court misapplied the law by not addressing four factors which weighed in favor of voluntariness: (1) the short length of time of the encounter; (2) the fact Michelle was not in custody when she gave consent; (3) the fact her initial consent was given in a public place; and (4) the fact she was not passively silent during the search, but objected to it. We disagree. As an initial matter, the government's argument suggests a mechanical analysis of the factors is required, which has been expressly rejected by this court on numerous occasions. See United States v. Comstock, 531 F.3d 667, 677 (8th Cir.2008) (Though these factors are valuable and guide our analysis, we do not employ them mechanically.) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); Willie, 462 F.3d at 896 (No one factor is dispositive; they are merely tools for analyzing the totality of all the circumstances.) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Further, we reject the government's implication as to the court not being cognizant of these factors in its analysis. For instance, the court's order confirms it was intimately aware of the timing of the encounter, as it discussed at length the timing between the hotel's notification to Weber at 4:23 p.m. of the Quinteros's return to the hotel and the officers' arrival on the scene at 9:45 p.m. The court detailed the K-9 search at 10:26 p.m. outside the first room associated with the Quinteros, the 10:33 p.m. search outside the second room, and the specific timing associated with the encounter. See, e.g., Suppression Order at 4 (After four to five minutes of directing Michelle to get dressed, Michelle came to the door). Indeed, at the hearing, the court viewed the hotel surveillance footage, and it listened to the recording of the encounter in its entirety. After a careful review of the record, we reject any notion the court was not aware of the factors it was required to consider. Next, the government argues the court misapplied the law by giving insufficient weight to the defendant-specific factors, such as Michelle's age, intelligence, and education; whether she was intoxicated at the time; whether she was read her Miranda rights; and whether she had a criminal history and was aware of her legal protections. In its order, the court stated: Michelle was not called to testify. Little information is known about her age or mental ability. Agent Weber testified, however, that the Quinteros were known to law enforcement before the circumstances giving rise to this case. The Court is not concerned that Michelle lacked the ability to consent or did not understand the process. Instead, the Court is concerned about the timing of the investigation and the coercive manner in which the officers went about obtaining consent. Id. at 10. The government contends these factors weighed in its favor, and the court's concession to them cannot be overstated in the analysis. We are not persuaded by the government's argument. As the government recognizes, the court expressly acknowledged the defendant-specific factors in its analysis. Rather, the government essentially disagrees with the outcome of the court's weighing of the factors. The court explicitly stated it was concerned the other relevant factors showed the officers obtained Michelle's consent in a coercive manner, and these coercive factors outweighed the other factors under the circumstances. See United States v. Cisneros-Gutierrez, 598 F.3d 997, 1003 (8th Cir.2010) (In determining voluntariness, the personal characteristics of the individual who supposedly consented and the environment in which the consent allegedly occurred are relevant.) (emphasis added). Under the totality of the circumstances, we find no error in the court's determination. The problem with the government's argument is exemplified by its analogy to United States v. Va Lerie, 424 F.3d 694, 709 (8th Cir.2005) (en banc), where this court held a defendant voluntarily consented to a search, in part, because the defendant-specific factors favored a finding of voluntariness. In Va Lerie, the defendant testified he consented to the search, the officer displayed his badge and identified himself as law enforcement, and no officer threatened or coerced the defendant. Id. at 709-10. None of these numerous facts supporting a finding of voluntary consent, id. at 710, are present in this case; to the contrary, there were numerous facts demonstrating coercion on the part of the officers and fear on the part of Michelle. Within this context, the government's argument fails because the court concluded the coercive factors outweighed those supporting voluntariness under the totality of the circumstances, and, as stated above, we find no error in this conclusion.