D.Conn.: Govt’s failure to prove inventory policy was fatal to search

There was no testimony at the suppression hearing about the policy permitting an inventory search, and the government filed to show that there was a policy. The search was not by consent because the officer told the defendant he was going to do the inventory, and defendant had no choice. United States v. Milligan, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94344 (D. Conn. May 4, 2011).*

Defendants landed a private plane at an unmanned airport, and police encountered them to talk. The officer called in their IDs to Homeland Security and they came back clean. The officer asked for consent and it was denied. The defendants seemed to act nervous, so they flew on to Nashville and registered the plane and spent the night. In Nashville, a drug dog alerted on the plane, and it was searched. Testimony about the first encounter and the refusal to consent was not barred by the exclusionary rule. [But, not a word about the constitutional right to refuse a consent search and not have it used at trial.] United States v. Clariot, 655 F.3d 550, 2011 FED App. 0238P (6th Cir. 2011).*

The district court’s credibility determination on consent is not clearly erroneous. United States v. Maldonado-Gonzalez, 444 Fed. Appx. 632 (4th Cir. 2011),* cert. denied 132 S. Ct. 466, 181 L. Ed. 2d 304 (U.S., Oct. 17, 2011).