Opinion ID: 202176
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Consent to Search the Nightstand

Text: 22 Another exception to the search-warrant requirement is a search by consent. United States v. Forbes, 181 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir.1999). In order to establish this exception, the government must prove valid consent by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. To be valid, a consent to search must of course be voluntary. Id. The consent may be express or inferred from conduct. United States v. Miller, 589 F.2d 1117, 1130 (1st Cir.1978) (finding defendant's unlocking of a suitcase to be implied-in-fact consent for officers to search the suitcase). The existence of consent and the voluntariness thereof are questions of fact to be determined from all the circumstances surrounding the search. Id. We review the district court's findings on voluntariness and consent for clear error. Id. We will uphold the district court's finding as long as it is fairly supported by the evidence. United States v. Laine, 270 F.3d 71, 75 (1st Cir.2001). 23 The district court tersely found that Winston did not consent to the search of the nightstand that led to the retrieval of his wallet and the discovery of the cash: His indication in response to questioning of where his wallet could be found cannot be construed as a consent to search. Clearly, Winston did not explicitly consent to a search of the nightstand, but the government argues that Winston's actions amounted to an inferred consent or an implied-in-fact consent. 24 Winston points out several factors that weigh against a finding of consent: agents forced their way into Winston's home, approached him with weapons drawn, ordered him to drop his cell phone, handcuffed him with his hands behind his back, and did not read him Miranda warnings. However, it is inherently reasonable for the agents to ask Winston for identification to verify his identity. See Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court, 542 U.S. 177, 185, 124 S.Ct. 2451, 159 L.Ed.2d 292 (2004) (In the ordinary course a police officer is free to ask a person for identification without implicating the Fourth Amendment.). 25 The facts clearly support a conclusion to the effect that Winston consented to the search of the nightstand. Upon being asked for verification of his identity, he verbally indicated that his wallet was in the nightstand in the bedroom. The agents could not immediately locate the nightstand in the bedroom, so they escorted Winston into the bedroom. When asked again for the location of his identification, he indicated with a shoulder movement in the direction of the nightstand. While the agents did not explicitly ask for permission to open the drawer to retrieve Winston's identification, the circumstances described would reasonably lead the agents to conclude that Winston was consenting to the opening of the drawer in the nightstand to allow for the retrieval of his wallet and identification. Any other conclusion would allow Winston the benefits of sandbagging the agents into committing a violation of his rights. Given the unquestioned facts, we see no reason why we should go along with such a deception. 26 In United States v. Cepulonis, agents bearing shotguns arrested and handcuffed Cepulonis outside his hotel room. 530 F.2d 238, 243 (1st Cir.1976). Cepulonis requested to speak with his wife and child in the hotel room, and the agents allowed him to enter the hotel room in their company. Id. After conducting a protective sweep, the agents asked Cepulonis if there were any weapons in the room, to which he responded, no, go ahead, search. Id. at 244. We upheld the district court's finding that the search was consensual. Id. Here, the inherent coerciveness of the situation is similar in that Winston was handcuffed, agents had drawn weapons, and family members were present. Favoring a finding of implied-in-fact consent in this case is the fact that a request for information about the location of Winston's identification is much more benign than a request for information about the location of weapons. 27 We do not find it of decisive significance that in response to the agent's question as to the location of the nightstand, Winston motioned with his shoulder rather than speaking. In other situations, we have found implied-in-fact consent based entirely on silent actions. See Robbins v. MacKenzie, 364 F.2d 45, 48 (1st Cir.1966). In Robbins, officers announced themselves at the door to a robbery suspect's apartment and asked to speak with him. Id. at 47. The suspect silently opened the door and walked back into the room. Id. We found that he expresse[d] by his action as adequate a consent to entry as he would by a verbal invitation. Id. at 48. 28 We do not lightly reverse a district court's holding when reviewing for clear error. We note that the facts surrounding the search of the nightstand are undisputed, and thus we are not disturbing the district court's findings of historical facts or credibility. Given the record as determined by the district court, we find that the district court's holding that Winston's acts did not constitute an implied-in-fact consent to open the drawer of the nightstand is not fairly supported by the record. 29 The district court did not determine whether Winston's actions surrounding the search of the nightstand were voluntary. We have no trouble finding that Winston acted voluntarily. 1 As described above, an in-home arrest pursuant to a search warrant is an inherently coercive situation, but such a situation does not preclude a finding of voluntariness. United States v. Watson, 423 U.S. 411, 424, 96 S.Ct. 820, 46 L.Ed.2d 598 (1976). The subject matter of the request, Winston's identification, weighs heavily in favor of voluntariness. The agent testified that he routinely asks for identification when making arrests, and such a request is eminently reasonable. The mundaneness of identification makes it unlikely that agents would bother to use coercive methods to obtain it. Further, because Winston immediately responded to the agents' requests, the evidence shows that Winston merely answered their questions and was not coerced into doing so.