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Hey guys, it's Anthony Bandiero. Here, attorney and senior legal instructor with Blue to Gold law enforcement training bringing the roadside chat from the studio. This question, let's see, look on my computer here. This question comes from an officer in the great state of Texas, right? Maybe it's the maybe it's the Great Republic of Texas. I don't know, technically, if it's, you know, what they call it down there. Alright. So this officer has a great scenario. And basically the question is, is Can an intoxicated owner of a vehicle give consent to search? Right despite being intoxicated. So the scenario here, the officer says that they stopped a vehicle with three occupants, the owner of the vehicle is in the rear seat due to be intoxicated, so they have a designated driver, that's always nice. And they see some old containers in the vehicle. So they're gonna get into the vehicle based on that alone. But that's not a very comprehensive search by any means. Because you can only look in places where open containers are likely to be so you don't get the trunk. You don't get the hood. You don't get tiny little places. Usually. I know what you're gonna say. But Anthony, there's little shooters can be in there. Okay, if the court buys it, then that's fine. But while doing there, they while in the car, retrieving the open containers, the officer see some Swisher Sweets, which is, you know, very commonly associated with marijuana cigarettes. So that's where we're at. Okay. So, and those are under the seat. And that's another telltale sign that they're probably marijuana cigarettes, right. But the cop then goes to the owner, again, this owner is intoxicated, would have been arrested that behind the wheel and says, Can we search your car? And he or she says yes. Is that consent valid? Based off of these facts? Absolutely. Absolutely. Voluntary intoxication is not going to get you out of consent to search, right? Voluntary intoxication, doesn't get it person out of there consensus search, basically, the role is this. Under the totality of the circumstances, do you reasonably believe that the person has the capacity to know that it's it's a, you know, they have a choice, right? It's a yes or no, they have the capacity understand that they have a choice. That's it. That's really all it takes. And the burden of proof for the court is usually pretty low. In most states, it's preponderance of the evidence. So more likely than not, some states kick it up a notch to something called clear and convincing. But most states just need it to be more likely than not. So if you think about it, have you ever had a breath test thrown out in court? Because the person was too drunk to consent? Think about it. You arrest a smashed driver, this person is borderline, you know, of alcohol poisoning, right. That's how much alcohol they have in a system. And you get their consent to blow on the machine. Now, you didn't pump their lungs. Right. They voluntarily blew. Have you ever had a case thrown out in court? Because the court said, officer, you can't ask this driver for consent the below? Because they are too intoxicated? I've never seen it. Is it possible? Certainly it's possible, especially if the cop coerce the person. Have you ever seen a case where somebody voluntarily gives blood? Right? Even when they're like saying, Hey, if you don't submit to chemical testing, you'll get your license revoked, or the next year or two? Or a New Jersey? It's like up to 20 years. Have you ever seen a court say hey, they can't give you consent? Because a too intoxicated Hi, whatever. I haven't seen it, not based off of simply being intoxicated. Now. Certainly, we have conversion that can happen and so forth. But you get my point. Okay. Easy question. Good question. But easy answer. Right? Good question. Easy answer. intoxication will not invalidate that consent to search. You can absolutely get consent from people who are under the influence, as long as they had a choice in the matter. All right. Great question. Keep it up guys. Look, if you like what I'm doing, hit like and subscribe that tells YouTube that I'm doing a good job and it puts us in front of more people and share with your friends share the video. All right. If you have more questions, go to  bluetogold.com/show and ask your question. Until next time, stay safe.
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