United States v. Gary Harris, No. 21-2039 (8th Cir. 2022)
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Defendant entered a conditional plea of guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition. Defendant reserved his right to appeal the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress and subsequently appealed. Defendant argued the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress because he was unlawfully arrested in his home, and the attenuation doctrine does not apply to render the evidence that was seized during a subsequent search admissible against him.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The court concluded that under the circumstances, it cannot say the district court committed a clear error in finding that Defendant’s consent to search was voluntary. The court expressly considered the relevant factors for assessing voluntariness before reaching its conclusion, including those weighing against a finding of voluntary consent. Further, the court wrote that weighing the appropriate factors, it concluded that Defendant’s voluntary consent to the search of his residence was sufficient to purge the taint of the officers’ initial unlawful conduct. The district court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence obtained from the December 14, 2019, search.
Court Description: [Kelly, Author, with Colloton and Kobes, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. Defendant voluntarily consented to the search of his home, and this consent was sufficient to purge the taint of the officers' initial unlawful conduct in the case; the district court did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress evidence found in his home.
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