00-3762, 00-3763 U.S. v. Pedroza

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“It is true that the consent followed closely on the heels of the questionable pat-down search, which could suggest that the consent was a product of that search. In this case, however, we find that the other two factors indicate the voluntariness of the consent and outweigh the temporal proximity. First, Juan’s decision to volunteer permission for the search, without being asked by the agents, can be seen as an intervening circumstance that removed the taint of the illegal pat-down. This was not a situation in which the agents demanded (or even asked) that Juan consent to a search, and they surely were not required to turn down Juan’s offer merely because the encounter was possibly tainted by the pat-down search. Similarly, we find that, although the agents may have lacked an articulable suspicion to justify the pat- down search, that is also a close question. The agents’ violation of Juan’s rights, if one occurred, was not flagrant. More importantly, it is clear from Agent Dominguez’s account that the only purpose of the pat-down search was to determine if Juan was carrying any weapons. There is no suggestion that the search was a ruse to intimidate Juan or to force him to answer the agents’ questions.

“The record simply provides no indication that the agents tried to exploit the questionable pat-down search to secure Juan’s consent to search his home and Thunderbird. To the contrary, it is not even clear that the agents would have sought such permission had Juan not raised the subject. On these facts, we have no trouble concluding that Juan’s decision to permit the search was an independent act of free will, and we therefore affirm the district court’s decision not to suppress the evidence found at Juan’s home and in the Thunderbird.”

Affirmed.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Lindberg, J., Wood, J.