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Failure to object to a search helps show it was by consent

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Failure to voice opposition to search help show it was consensual. State v. Stites, 2008 Mo. App. LEXIS 1028 (July 22, 2008) (Comment: The average person would never dare challenge a cop during an illegal search, so silence should not mean a thing.) Officers had information defendant was attacking another inside his home, and that justified a warrantless entry. Defense counsel was not ineffective for not challenging it. Jones v. State, 2008 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 582 (July 29, 2008).* While it would violate due process to comment on defendant's refusal to consent to a search for DNA, this case did not reach that level. If anything, the inference was that somebody else did not consent. State v. Jones, 2008 Minn. LEXIS 367 (July 31, 2008).*

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 02, 2008 (boomark / email).