Opinion ID: 421924
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Seizure and search of the vial

Text: 26 The district court, applying the principles enunciated in Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 222, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 2045, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973) (totality of the circumstances determines the voluntariness of consent to waive Fourth Amendment rights), held that Thompson voluntarily consented to the seizure and search of the vial. Because Thompson was illegally detained when he gave his consent, however, the district court's conclusion that Thompson's consent was voluntary is insufficient to validate the seizure and search. Thompson's consent must also be untainted by the illegal detention. Taylor v. Alabama, 457 U.S. 687, 102 S.Ct. 2664, 73 L.Ed.2d 314 (1982); Berry, 670 F.2d at 604-05. 27 Absent findings by the district court, this court may itself decide the taintedness issue. Berry. The Supreme Court has identified three factors useful in determining whether a defendant's consent was tainted by an illegal detention: (1) the temporal proximity of the illegal detention and the consent; (2) the presence of intervening circumstances; and (3) the purpose and flagrancy of the official misconduct. Taylor v. Alabama, 457 U.S. at 698, 102 S.Ct. at 2671, 73 L.Ed.2d at 324; Robinson, 690 F.2d at 877. Applying these three factors, we hold that Thompson's consent was tainted by the illegal detention. 28 First, Thompson's consent was given immediately after Kier retained his driver's license. Second, there were no intervening circumstances between the detention and the consent. Third, although the government's conduct cannot be justifiably described as flagrant, Kier admitted that prior to the search of the vial he neither suspected nor had reason to suspect criminal activity. Cf. Berry, 670 F.2d at 605 (defendant's consent was not tainted because, inter alia, officer had an arguable basis for the illegal detention. 29 Because Thompson's consent was tainted, the contents of the vial and Thompson's statements relating to it must be excluded as the fruit of an unconstitutional detention.