United States v. Quintero

United States Court of Appeals
FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
___________

No. 10-3280
___________

United States of America, *
*
Appellant, *
* Appeal from the United States
v. * District Court for the
* District of North Dakota.
Manuel Quintero, and *
Michelle Marie Quintero, *
*
Appellees. *
___________

Submitted: May 13, 2011
Filed: August 8, 2011
___________

Before WOLLMAN, BYE, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.
___________

BYE, Circuit Judge.

Manuel and Michelle Quintero were charged with conspiracy to possess with
intent to distribute and distribute in excess of 50 grams of methamphetamine in
violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846 and 18 U.S.C. § 2; possession with intent
to distribute in excess of 50 grams of methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C.
§ 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2; and conspiracy to engage in money laundering in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956. The Quinteros moved to suppress evidence seized
from a warrantless search of their hotel room, contending Michelle did not voluntarily
consent to the search. The district court1 agreed, granting the motions to suppress
from which the government now appeals. We affirm.

I

On September 15, 2009, security personnel at the Dakota Magic Casino and
Hotel in Hankinson, North Dakota, reported to Agent Jason Weber of the Richland
County Sheriff’s Office a glass lightbulb in one of the hotel rooms had apparently
been used as a smoking device for narcotics. Although the occupant of the room
where the bulb was found, Manuel Quintero, had recently checked out, hotel staff
discovered reservations for the upcoming night under the name of Michelle Quintero,
Manuel’s wife. Weber, who was familiar with the Quinteros, requested the hotel
security personnel notify him when the couple returned. Around 4:30 p.m., hotel
security informed Weber of the Quinteros’s return, and Weber thereafter asked the
security team to conduct surveillance of the couple until law enforcement arrived.

Over five hours later, around 9:45 p.m., Weber and two other task force
officers reached the hotel. The officers began their investigation by utilizing a K-9
sniff on two vehicles believed to be associated with the Quinteros, as well as a sniff
outside the hotel rooms the Quinteros and their friends had rented for the night. The
dog failed to alert at the respective locations, however, leading the officers to conduct
a “knock-and-talk” with the Quinteros around 10:35 p.m. due to the absence of any
probable cause. At this time, Weber – surrounded by another agent, hotel security
personnel, and an associate manager – knocked on the Quinteros’s hotel room door
three separate times.2 After the third round of knocking, a man inside the room, later

1
The Honorable Ralph R. Erickson, Chief Judge, United States District Court
for the District of North Dakota.
2
The officer with the K-9 unit was returning the dog to his vehicle at the time
the knock-and-talk commenced, but later rejoined the other two officers in the search.

-2-
identified as Manuel, asked, “Who is it?” Rather than identifying himself with the
Sheriff’s Department, Weber answered, “Security.” Upon opening the door, Manuel
asked if he should step outside the room. He also informed the officers his
“girlfriend,” later identified as Michelle, was undressed in the darkened room. While
Manuel stood in the hallway, Weber directed Michelle to get dressed on multiple
occasions and come to the door.

After four or five minutes, Michelle approached the door and proclaimed to the
officers, “You’re scaring the shit out of me, what happened?” Weber asked Michelle
if she rented the room and if the officers could come inside. Although the
government asserts Michelle answered in the affirmative, the district court noted a
tape recording of the incident was inaudible as to her response. After her remarks,
Weber asserted, “We’ll come in with you so we’re not making a spectacle in the
hallway.” Once inside, the officers turned the light on and asked Michelle if there
was anything in the room she wanted to inform the officers of, to which she replied
“no” and “not that I know of.” Weber then probed multiple times whether the officers
could “tak[e] a look around.” He explained to Michelle the request stemmed from the
discovery of the lightbulb in the room rented by Manuel the previous night. On the
recording, Michelle was heard asking if she had a “right to ah,” as well as stating, “I
don’t know” and “I don’t understand.” She also reiterated multiple times the officers
were scaring her, prompting Weber to attempt to reassure Michelle by clarifying the
officers just wanted to take “a quick peek around.”

After Michelle finally consented to a search of the room, the officers began
conducting a thorough inspection, including an examination of the Quinteros’s
personal belongings, despite Weber’s prior representations indicating the officers
only wanted to take “a quick peek around.” Weber further embellished the evidence
the officers maintained against the Quinteros, as he told Manuel the lightbulb
discovered the previous night had been dusted for fingerprints, which matched
Manuel’s fingerprints, and he asked Manuel about the incident. During the

-3-
suppression hearing, Weber admitted he never actually dusted the lightbulb and he
intentionally misrepresented the evidence to Manuel.

Amid the officers’ search of the room, Michelle objected, “Can you stop and
get out of here?” Weber stated the officers could stop searching, but they would not
leave. Seconds later, another officer declared he found apparent methamphetamine
residue on a plastic wrapper in Michelle’s purse, which was located inside a night
stand drawer. The officers then ceased the search immediately and informed the
Quinteros they would be detained pending a search warrant. After the officers
subsequently discovered a syringe needle and ziploc baggies on Michelle’s person,
both Michelle and Manuel were arrested. Upon obtaining a search warrant the
following day, officers uncovered more than 200 grams of methamphetamine.

The Quinteros were charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to
distribute and distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute, and
conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Manuel, later joined by Michelle, moved
to suppress evidence based on the unlawful search of the hotel room. Following an
evidentiary hearing, the district court issued an order bifurcating its analysis into two
stages, considering whether Michelle voluntarily consented to the officers’ (1) entry
into the room and (2) search of the room. Taking up the first issue, the court noted
whether Michelle consented was “a close call,” given Weber’s conduct outside the
room, but the court ultimately held a reasonable person could find Michelle impliedly
consented to the officers’ entry into the room. Once the officers gained entry to the
room, the court held the totality of the circumstances did not demonstrate Michelle
voluntarily consented to their search. Specifically, the court discussed the officers’
unexplained five-and-a-half-hour delay in arriving at the hotel, which resulted in them
rousing the Quinteros from sleep after 10:30 p.m. The court was also concerned with
the officers’ pressure on Michelle, the number of officers involved, the coercive
environment surrounding the search, and Michelle’s repeated expressions of fear.
Under these circumstances, the court granted the Quinteros’s motions to suppress all

-4-
evidence seized as a result of the search of the hotel room. The government filed this
interlocutory appeal under 18 U.S.C. § 3731, challenging the court’s voluntariness
determination based on the court’s (1) consideration of irrelevant factors; (2) failure
to consider proper factors; and (3) misapplication of factors.3

II

A. Standard of Review

Before reaching the merits of the government’s appeal, we first address the
applicable standard of review. When reviewing a district court’s suppression
determination, we review the court’s factual findings for clear error and its legal
conclusions de novo. United States v. Johnson, 619 F.3d 910, 917 (8th Cir. 2010).
“The voluntariness of a consent to search is a factual question that is reviewed for
clear error.” Id. at 918.

Although the government recognizes the voluntariness inquiry is a factual
question reviewed for clear error, it seeks a de novo review in light of the recording

3
The government contends the Quinteros chose not to cross-appeal the court’s
ruling as to Michelle’s consent to enter the hotel room and thus conceded her consent
was voluntary. Appellant’s Reply Br. at 14. The government goes on to argue this
supposed concession undermines the Quinteros’s arguments with respect to their
consent to search the room. We note the government’s arguments in this regard are
plainly contrary to the ambit of § 3731, which provides only the government with the
right to an interlocutory appeal of a suppression order. See United States v. Marasco,
487 F.3d 543, 546 (8th Cir. 2007) (“While § 3731 gives the government the ability
to appeal from an order granting a pretrial motion to suppress, this statute does not
provide for a cross-appeal by the defendant.”). Correspondingly, we reject the
government’s endeavors to cast negative light upon the Quinteros’s inability to cross-
appeal the suppression order as it pertains to Michelle’s consent to enter the hotel
room, and we express no opinion on the validity of her consent to enter the room.

-5-
of the September 15, 2009, search of the Quinteros’s hotel room, which was admitted
into evidence at the suppression hearing. According to the government, because the
entire encounter was recorded, and Michelle did not testify at the hearing, the
recording is the undisputed factual record in this case. Thus, the government argues
it is only challenging the court’s legal conclusions based upon the undisputed facts.

We decline to apply a de novo standard of review. First, we are guided by our
well-established precedent demonstrating the voluntariness determination is a factual
question reviewed for clear error. See United States v. Garcia, 613 F.3d 749, 753 (8th
Cir. 2010) (“Whether consent is voluntary is a question of fact, reviewed for clear
error”); United States v. Saenz, 474 F.3d 1132, 1136 (8th Cir. 2007) (“The
voluntariness of a consent to a search is a factual question that is reviewed for clear
error.”). Were we to accept the government’s argument, we would run afoul of these
cases – none of which apply a de novo standard of review in the voluntariness
context, as the government acknowledges.

Second, we are unpersuaded by the government’s efforts to distinguish this
case based on the tape recording. As an initial matter, the recording fails to provide
a complete accounting of the facts of the encounter, which may help explain why the
government felt it necessary to call two officers at the suppression hearing to testify
as to their version of the events, rather than relying solely on the recording as the
complete factual record. For instance, there is a void in the recording concerning the
number of officers present during the search, the officers’ blocking of the hotel room
door, and the officers’ physical appearance, i.e., Weber’s frame of standing 6’4’’ and
260 pounds and whether the officers were uniformed or in plain clothes. In addition,
the recording is inaudible during crucial times, such as when Michelle responded to
Weber’s initial request for consent. On the other hand, certain statements evident on
the recording turned out to be falsehoods, which was demonstrated only by Weber’s
later admissions to the contrary, including his misstatement of his identity while he
knocked on the door, his intended scope of the search, and his false confirmation of

-6-
Manuel’s fingerprints on the lightbulb through forensic evidence. Moreover, Weber
testified to additional facts not present on the recording, such as Michelle’s nervous
demeanor. Under these circumstances, we cannot accept the government’s argument
as to the recording being the complete factual record of the incident.

Furthermore, most of the cases cited by the government in support of its
suggested de novo review restate, unremarkably, the general standard concerning our
review of a district court’s factual findings for clear error and its legal conclusions de
novo, as we recognized above. See Johnson, 619 F.3d at 917 (“We review a district
court’s factual findings for clear error and legal conclusions de novo when reviewing
the denial of a motion to suppress.”); United States v. Scott, 610 F.3d 1009, 1015 (8th
Cir. 2010) (“Scott does not dispute that the police were lawfully present in the
common hallway, nor does he dispute the other facts surrounding Nation’s sniff and
alert. Thus, we review de novo the ultimate question of whether the Fourth
Amendment has been violated.”) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted);
United States v. Valle Cruz, 452 F.3d 698, 702 (8th Cir. 2006) (“We review for clear
error the District Court’s findings of historical fact, about which there is virtually no
dispute in this case because most of those facts are evidenced on at least the audio
portion of the videotape.”) (internal citation omitted); United States v. Leppert, 408
F.3d 1039, 1041 (8th Cir. 2005) (“The facts are not in dispute, and we review de novo
the district court’s legal conclusions”); United States v. Williams, 359 F.3d 1019,
1020 (8th Cir. 2004) (“The facts stated above are not in dispute. Rather, the
conclusion that the Fourth Amendment was not violated is the focus of our
analysis.”); United States v. Porter, 49 F. App’x 438, 441 (4th Cir. 2002)
(unpublished per curiam) (reviewing the district court’s voluntariness determination
de novo based on the undisputed facts, which were memorialized on a videotape).

More importantly, to the extent these cases are applicable to the question of
voluntariness, we find them distinguishable because each involved undisputed facts.
In this case, notwithstanding the government’s concession to certain disputed facts

-7-
noted by the Quinteros, such as the number of officers present at the hotel, the
government continues to challenge matters more properly characterized as factual
determinations. For instance, the government argues there was no improper delay on
the part of the officers in arriving at the hotel; Michelle was “scrubbing” the hotel
room clean of drugs during the time the officers were awaiting her arrival at the door,
rather than dressing herself; she maintained control over the entire encounter with law
enforcement; her fear was likely due to the hidden methamphetamine, rather than the
officers’ conduct; and the officers exerted no improper pressure on her to consent.
The Quinteros dispute each of these facts, among others argued by the government
– many of which played a critical role in the court’s analysis.

Finally, the clear error standard we employ here reinforces the district court’s
province to make factual findings regarding the nuances, tone of voice, and other
subtle aspects inherent in determining whether an individual voluntarily consented
to a search. Cf. United States v. White, 81 F.3d 775, 779 (8th Cir. 1996) (analyzing
the cooperative tone of conversation between the officer and the defendant – one of
“[t]he facts found by the district court” – in concluding the defendant was not seized
under the Fourth Amendment); see also United States v. Meza-Gonzalez, 394 F.3d
587, 592 (8th Cir. 2005) (“Determination of consent necessarily involves judging the
credibility of witnesses, a task generally left to the district court.”). After considering
all the evidence, including these subtle aspects reserved for the fact-finder, the district
court was required to weigh the evidence to determine whether Michelle voluntarily
consented. For the reasons above, this is a factual question we review for clear error.

B. The District Court’s Voluntariness Determination

While the Fourth Amendment does not permit warrantless searches, law
enforcement may conduct such a search if they obtain a resident’s voluntary consent.
United States v. Kelley, 594 F.3d 1010, 1013 (8th Cir. 2010). The government bears
the burden of proving voluntary consent. United States v. Willie, 462 F.3d 892, 896

-8-
(8th Cir. 2006). In determining whether consent is voluntary, courts examine the
totality of the circumstances, including relevant factors such as

(1) the individual’s age and mental ability; (2) whether the individual
was intoxicated or under the influence of drugs; (3) whether the
individual was informed of [her] Miranda rights; and (4) whether the
individual was aware, through prior experience, of the protections that
the legal system provides for suspected criminals. It is also important
to consider the environment in which an individual’s consent is
obtained, including (1) the length of the detention; (2) whether the
police used threats, physical intimidation, or punishment to extract
consent; (3) whether the police made promises or misrepresentations; (4)
whether the individual was in custody or under arrest when consent was
given; (5) whether the consent was given in public or in a secluded
location; and (6) whether the individual stood by silently or objected to
the search.

United States v. Golinveaux, 611 F.3d 956, 959 (8th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted).
The government contends the district court erred in its analysis of these factors by
relying on irrelevant factors, failing to consider proper factors, and improperly
weighing relevant factors.

1. Whether the Court Considered Irrelevant Factors

First, the government argues the court placed great weight on the five-and-a-
half-hour delay between the time the officers became aware of the Quinteros’s check-
in at the hotel and the time the officers commenced the knock-and-talk at 10:30 p.m.
The government contends the delay was irrelevant and no evidence established the
officers intentionally delayed their investigation to confront the Quinteros at night.

We conclude the court properly considered the time of the search in
determining whether Michelle’s consent was voluntary. First, our case law suggests

-9-
the factors enumerated under the totality of the circumstances inquiry are non-
exhaustive. See, e.g., United States v. Griffin, 922 F.2d 1343, 1349 (8th Cir. 1990)
(noting the totality of the circumstances analysis for a custody determination is
“decidedly non-exhaustive”); see also United States v. Romero, 743 F. Supp. 2d
1281, 1303 (D. N.M. 2010) (“The Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit have
developed a non-exhaustive list of factors that courts should consider when trying to
determine whether a defendant’s consent was voluntarily given.”). Accordingly, it
was not improper for the court to consider the fact the Quinteros were rousted out of
bed at 10:30 p.m. by a number of officers and security personnel, as well as the
officers’ unexplained delay in executing the knock-and-talk.

Moreover, regardless of whether the officers intentionally delayed their
investigation to effectuate a nighttime search, our precedent clearly recognizes the
time of the day during which a search takes place is relevant in the analysis. See
United States v. Barnum, 564 F.3d 964, 971 (8th Cir. 2009) (“Barnum was situated
behind his rental vehicle on the side of the road in broad daylight when he gave the
consent, and he was not in police custody.”); United States v. Spotted Elk, 548 F.3d
641, 655 (8th Cir. 2008) (considering the fact the knock-and-talk at a motel room
occurred during mid-day in analyzing whether the officers’ conduct was coercive);
United States v. Smith, 260 F.3d 922, 925 (8th Cir. 2001) (noting the search took
place during daylight in a public place, which weighed in favor of the government in
the voluntariness determination). The government bears the burden of demonstrating
voluntariness, by which it “must show that a reasonable person would have believed
that the subject of a search gave consent that was the product of an essentially free
and unconstrained choice, and that the subject comprehended the choice that he or she
was making.” United States v. Sanders, 424 F.3d 768, 773 (8th Cir. 2005) (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted). As part of determining whether Michelle’s
consent was free and unconstrained, the court was tasked with examining the
environment in which the consent took place. See United States v. Lattimore, 87 F.3d
647, 650 (4th Cir. 1996) (“In viewing the totality of the circumstances, it is

-10-
appropriate to consider . . . the conditions under which the consent to search was
given (such as . . . the duration, location, and time of the encounter).”). Thus, the fact
the officers inexplicably delayed their investigation, culminating in a nighttime
knock-and-talk designed to consummate in a full-scale search, was relevant to the
court’s determination. In particular, the officers’ rousting of the Quinteros from bed
at night helped create a more coercive atmosphere, and thus the court did not err in
considering this fact in its analysis.

2. Whether the Court Failed to Consider Proper Factors

Second, the government argues the court misapplied the law by not addressing
four factors which weighed in favor of voluntariness: (1) the short length of time of
the encounter; (2) the fact Michelle was not in custody when she gave consent; (3)
the fact her initial consent was given in a public place; and (4) the fact she was not
passively silent during the search, but objected to it.

We disagree. As an initial matter, the government’s argument suggests a
mechanical analysis of the factors is required, which has been expressly rejected by
this court on numerous occasions. See United States v. Comstock, 531 F.3d 667, 677
(8th Cir. 2008) (“Though these factors are valuable and guide our analysis, we do not
employ them mechanically.”) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); Willie,
462 F.3d at 896 (“No one factor is dispositive; they are merely tools for analyzing the
totality of all the circumstances.”) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

Further, we reject the government’s implication as to the court not being
cognizant of these factors in its analysis. For instance, the court’s order confirms it
was intimately aware of the timing of the encounter, as it discussed at length the
timing between the hotel’s notification to Weber at 4:23 p.m. of the Quinteros’s
return to the hotel and the officers’ arrival on the scene at 9:45 p.m. The court
detailed the K-9 search at 10:26 p.m outside the first room associated with the

-11-
Quinteros, the 10:33 p.m. search outside the second room, and the specific timing
associated with the encounter. See, e.g., Suppression Order at 4 (“After four to five
minutes of directing Michelle to get dressed, Michelle came to the door”). Indeed,
at the hearing, the court viewed the hotel surveillance footage, and it listened to the
recording of the encounter in its entirety. After a careful review of the record, we
reject any notion the court was not aware of the factors it was required to consider.

Next, the government argues the court misapplied the law by giving
insufficient weight to the defendant-specific factors, such as Michelle’s age,
intelligence, and education; whether she was intoxicated at the time; whether she was
read her Miranda rights; and whether she had a criminal history and was aware of her
legal protections. In its order, the court stated:

Michelle was not called to testify. Little information is known about her
age or mental ability. Agent Weber testified, however, that the
Quinteros were known to law enforcement before the circumstances
giving rise to this case. The Court is not concerned that Michelle lacked
the ability to consent or did not understand the process. Instead, the
Court is concerned about the timing of the investigation and the coercive
manner in which the officers went about obtaining consent.

Id. at 10. The government contends these factors weighed in its favor, and the court’s
“concession” to them cannot be overstated in the analysis.

We are not persuaded by the government’s argument. As the government
recognizes, the court expressly acknowledged the defendant-specific factors in its
analysis. Rather, the government essentially disagrees with the outcome of the
court’s weighing of the factors. The court explicitly stated it was concerned the other
relevant factors showed the officers obtained Michelle’s consent in a coercive
manner, and these coercive factors outweighed the other factors under the
circumstances. See United States v. Cisneros-Gutierrez, 598 F.3d 997, 1003 (8th Cir.

-12-
2010) (“In determining voluntariness, the personal characteristics of the individual
who supposedly consented and the environment in which the consent allegedly
occurred are relevant.”) (emphasis added). Under the totality of the circumstances,
we find no error in the court’s determination.

The problem with the government’s argument is exemplified by its analogy to
United States v. Va Lerie, 424 F.3d 694, 709 (8th Cir. 2005) (en banc), where this
court held a defendant voluntarily consented to a search, in part, because the
defendant-specific factors favored a finding of voluntariness. In Va Lerie, the
defendant testified he consented to the search, the officer displayed his badge and
identified himself as law enforcement, and no officer threatened or coerced the
defendant. Id. at 709-10. None of these “numerous facts supporting a finding of
voluntary consent,” id. at 710, are present in this case; to the contrary, there were
numerous facts demonstrating coercion on the part of the officers and fear on the part
of Michelle. Within this context, the government’s argument fails because the court
concluded the coercive factors outweighed those supporting voluntariness under the
totality of the circumstances, and, as stated above, we find no error in this conclusion.

3. Whether the Court Misconstrued Factors

Finally, the government argues the court misapplied the law by holding
Michelle was coerced into consenting to the search because other reasons, such as the
hidden methamphetamine, justified her fear, and the presence of six individuals –
three officers, two security guards, and one hotel manager – was insufficient to create
a coercive environment. The government also asserts the court misapplied the law
in holding the officers made misrepresentations which led to the involuntary consent
because officer deception, standing alone, does not invalidate consent. Moreover, the
government argues Michelle knew her consent to search would reach locations where
the narcotics could be hidden.

-13-
 We disagree. The record supports the court’s conclusion as to the coercive
atmosphere, which, coupled with the officers’ misrepresentations and Michelle’s
repeated expressions of fear, demonstrated her consent was involuntary. We find
illustrative the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S. 194,
204 (2002), where the Court concluded an encounter was not coercive because
“[t]here was no application of force, no intimidating movement, no overwhelming
show of force, no brandishing of weapons, no blocking of exits, no threat, no
command, not even an authoritative tone of voice.” Unlike in Drayton, there were
copious facts here supporting coercion. Six individuals, including three officers and
two security guards, conducted a late-night knock-and-talk after an inexplicable
delay, rousting the Quinteros from sleep. Weber misrepresented his identity at the
door, commanded Michelle to get dressed and come to the door multiple times, and
took several minutes to repeatedly badger her for consent to search the room in the
face of her hesitation, as well as her repeated statements to the effect that the officers
were “scaring the shit out of [her].” Weber also falsely told Michelle he only wanted
to take “a quick peek around,” when he endeavored to conduct a full-scale search of
the room and the Quinteros’s belongings. To this end, Weber admitted his forceful
tactics were the only way he could search the room because he had no probable cause
or exigent circumstances. Under these circumstances, the court did not err in
concluding Michelle’s consent was the product of duress and coercion, rather than of
her own free will. See United States v. Lakoskey, 462 F.3d 965, 973 (8th Cir. 2006)
(“Consent is voluntary if it was the product of an essentially free and unconstrained
choice by its maker, rather than the product of duress and coercion, express or
implied.”) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

We are unpersuaded by the government’s attempts to diminish the effect of the
officers’ coercion, such as its assertion as to Michelle’s fear being the product of her
own illegal activity, rather than the officers’ threatening conduct. This argument runs
counter to our precedent, which holds “[t]he defendant’s actual subjective state of
mind at the time that he allegedly gave his consent is not determinative; our focus,

-14-
rather, is on how a reasonable person could have perceived his state of mind at that
time.” United States v. Starr, 533 F.3d 985, 995 (8th Cir. 2008) (internal quotation
marks and citation omitted); see also Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429, 438 (1991)
(“[T]he ‘reasonable person’ test presupposes an innocent person.”). Accordingly, in
determining whether a reasonable innocent person’s consent was involuntary, “[t]he
internal psychological pressure associated with a suspect’s knowledge of his or her
own guilt, or fears that evidence of such guilt has been discovered by police, have no
bearing on this question.” United States v. Torres-Castro, 374 F. Supp. 2d 994, 1028
(D. N.M. 2005). We therefore reject the government’s efforts to supplant Michelle’s
fear from the officers’ conduct with the alleged fear of her own criminal activity.

In sum, “[t]he ultimate question is whether the individual’s will has been
overborne and his capacity for self-determination critically impaired, such that his
consent to search must have been involuntary.” United States v. Vinton, 631 F.3d
476, 482 (8th Cir. 2011) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The district
court held, after considering all the evidence, the government failed to show Michelle
voluntarily consented to a search. We find no clear error in the court’s conclusion as
to the involuntariness of Michelle’s consent to search.

III

We affirm the district court’s grant of the Quinteros’s motion to suppress.
______________________________

-15-