MBE Rules · Criminal Procedure
Consent Searches
Schneckloth / Randolph / Fernandez
The rule
Consent must be voluntary under the totality (knowledge of the right to refuse not required); a physically present co-occupant's refusal blocks consent against them, but removal of the objector revives the other occupant's consent.
In plain English
Consent searches occur when a person gives permission for law enforcement to search their property. For the consent to be valid, it must be voluntary, and if one co-occupant refuses consent, that refusal prevents a search against their rights, although if the objecting co-occupant is removed, the other occupant's consent can still be valid.
Worked example
Two roommates, Alex and Jamie, are at home when police arrive and ask to search their apartment. Alex consents to the search, but Jamie, who is also present, refuses. The police cannot search the apartment because Jamie's refusal blocks Alex's consent, resulting in no search being conducted.
Memory hook
One occupant's 'no' trumps another's 'yes' in consent searches.
The trap
Exams may present scenarios where one occupant consents and another refuses, testing your understanding of how refusal affects consent validity. Students often overlook the impact of the co-occupant's presence or absence.
How examiners test it
Questions often involve fact patterns with multiple occupants and consent issues, requiring candidates to analyze the dynamics of consent and refusal in a shared living situation.
Drill this rule until it can't fail you.
Vrenberg generates unlimited questions on this exact rule, tracks your mastery of it, and brings it back until it sticks.