
Quoting
United States v Escobar
The test applied to determine if consent is free and voluntary is whether, in light of the totality of the circumstances, consent was given without coercion, express or implied. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. at 227; Laing v. United States, 891 F.2d 683, 686 (8th Cir. 1989). The government bears the burden of showing consent was freely and voluntary given and not a result of duress or coercion, Laing, 891 F.2d at 686, and the burden cannot be discharged by showing mere acquiescence to a claim of lawful authority. Bumper v. North Carolina, 391 U.S. 543, 548-49, 20 L. Ed. 2d 797, 88 S. Ct. 1788 (1968). "Rather, the government 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." Cedano-Medina, 366 F.3d at 684 (internal citations and quotations omitted).
Factors we consider when determining if consent was freely and voluntarily given, as set forth in United States v. Chaidez, 906 F.2d 377, 381 (8th Cir. 1990), include 1) age, 2) general intelligence and education, 3) whether the individual was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, 4) whether she was informed of the Miranda rights, and 5) whether she had experienced prior arrests and was thus aware of the protections the legal system affords suspected criminals.
Additionally, the environment in which the alleged consent was secured is also relevant. Accordingly, we consider 1) the length of time one was detained, 2) whether the police threatened, physically intimidated, or punished the suspect, 3) whether the police made promises or misrepresentations, 4) whether the suspect was in custody or under arrest when the consent was given, 5) whether the consent occurred in a public or a secluded place, and 6) whether the suspect stood by silently as the search occurred. United States v. Smith, 260 F.3d 922, 924 (8th Cir. 2001). We also consider "whether the defendant's contemporaneous reaction to the search was consistent with consent." United States v. Jones, 254 F.3d 692, 696 (8th Cir. 2001). "The factors should not be applied mechanically, and no single factor is dispositive or controlling." United States v. Bradley, 234 F.3d 363, 366 (8th Cir. 2000) (internal citation omitted).