N.D.Ala.: One is not free to leave when officer retains his DL; otherwise, case is essentially a repeat of Strieff

A person is not free to leave when the officer retains his driver’s license. The officer’s conduct in detaining defendant here was no worse than in Strieff, and the finding of the arrest warrant would not be suppressed. United States v. Burr, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14543 (N.D. Ala. Jan. 17, 2017), adopted, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14149 (N.D. Ala. Feb. 1, 2017).

“I find this traffic stop to be lawful under the Fourth Amendment. With respect to the final issue of voluntary consent, it is apparent that Warfield’s will was not overborne. Regardless of whether Warfield knew he was in fact free to leave, Warfield did not appear coerced when he gave consent to the search of the trunk. Warfield possessed his identification at the time the consent was given, and responded ‘No problem’ to the request, and opened the trunk himself. (Doc. No. 23, Exhibit 1). Under the totality of the circumstances, I find consent was freely given for the search.” United States v. Warfield, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13144 (N.D. Ohio Jan. 31, 2017).*

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