Consent Searches in Tennessee
Can you consent to a police search of your car or home under Tennessee law.The answer is yes.
Consent is a well recognized exception to the search warrant requirements of both Article I section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution and the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The key is a valid consent to search eliminates the police officer's need to obtain a search warrant and the need for probable cause.
The question then becomes was the consent voluntary.For a consent search to be valid , the consent must be unequivocal,specific,intelligently given and uncontaminated by duress or coercion.The burden of proof is on the government to show the consent was voluntarily given.
My gentile reminder is please do not consent to a search at anytime.
Good blog, but you shouldn't have stopped with a home and mentioned the biggest blunder most people make, which is letting law enforcement search their car when they have no reasonable suspicion to do so. Under no circumstances should anyone voluntarily consent to search an automobile just because the officers requests a search. Like the home, unless the officer has probable cause, the officer has no valid reason to search an automobile; even if a person does not have any contraband in the vehicle. In the face of a refusal, the officer might detain you long enough to call a drug-detecting dog to sniff around the outside of the car. If put in that position, make the officer call for the dog. Moreover, never fall for the line,"[W]hy can't I search your car? Are you hiding something?" It's a complete ruse. The correct answer is, "[Y]ou (officer) don't have any reason to search my car, and I object to you doing so."