Defendant consented in writing to a search of his vehicle but it took 71 minutes before any drugs were found. The length of search alone does not make it unreasonable nor violate the terms of the consent. If he had objected to the length of the search, would it have made a difference? Maybe. United States v. Williams, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128216 (W.D.Pa. September 23, 2015):
\n<\/p>\n
There was no time limit specified in the Waiver of Rights and Consent to Search document. However, after the consent form was finalized and as he commenced the search, Trooper Volk said in an off-hand way that he would “be done in a minute.” The Court finds that this was a mere idiomatic expression, rather than a binding representation as to the length of the search. The Court finds that it was not unreasonable for Trooper Volk to search for over an hour and that the scope of the search was within the consent granted by Williams. United States v. Comegys, 504 F. App’x 137, 142 (3d Cir. 2012) (non-precedential) (traffic stop and car search of more than three hours within scope of consent); United States v. Siwek, 453 F.3d 1079, 1084 (8th Cir. 2006) (holding forty-five minute search of truck did not exceed scope of consent when defendant did not “protest in any manner the continuation of the search”); United States v. Rosborough, 366 F.3d 1145, 1150-51 (10th Cir. 2004) (finding forty-five minute search did not exceed scope of consent when patrolmen “acted diligently in their search” and defendants did not object to its length until after canine unit alerted to drugs in the vehicle); United States v. Alcantar, 271 F.3d 731 (8th Cir. 2001) (finding first hour of nearly three-hour search of truck did not exceed scope of consent when neither defendant objected to its continuation after officer told them the search would “not take very long”). In sum, the length of the subject search was not excessive.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Defendant consented in writing to a search of his vehicle but it took 71 minutes before any drugs were found. The length of search alone does not make it unreasonable nor violate the terms of the consent. If he had … Continue reading