Sunday, November 3, 2013

Schneckloth v. Bustamonte case brief

Schneckloth v. Bustamonte case brief summary
412 U.S. 218 (1973)

CASE SYNOPSIS
Petitioner sought certiorari to review a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which vacated an order that denied a writ of habeas corpus to respondent and that remanded the case for further proceedings. The court of appeals held that consent to a search could not be found solely from the absence of coercion and a verbal expression of assent.

CASE FACTS
Respondent was brought to trial on a charge of possessing a check with intent to defraud. Respondent moved to suppress the introduction of certain material as evidence against him on the ground that the material had been acquired through a warrantless search and seizure that were unconstitutional. The court of appeals vacated an order that denied the petition for habeas corpus relief on grounds that there was insufficient proof that respondent knew that he had a right to refuse to give his consent to the search.

DISCUSSION
  • The Court disagreed that proof of knowledge of the right to refuse consent was a necessary prerequisite to demonstrating "voluntary" consent. 
  • Rather, the Court held that individual consent could only be ascertained by analyzing all of the circumstances. 
  • The traditional definition of voluntariness, which the Court adhered to, did not require proof of knowledge of a right to refuse as the sine qua non of an effective consent to a search.

CONCLUSION
The Court reversed the decision of the court below, reinstating the affirmation of respondent's conviction and the denial of a writ of habeas corpus to respondent, on the grounds that the determination of voluntariness did not require proof of knowledge of a right to refuse as the sine qua non of an effective consent to a search.



Recommended Supplements for Criminal Procedure Criminal Procedure: Examples & Explanations, Sixth Edition
Emanuel Law Outline: Criminal Procedure

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