United States v. Washington, 992 F. Supp. 2d 789

At ~1:00 a.m. officers stopped Washington after he made an un‑signaled left turn; he was the sole occupant and provided his driver’s license and rental information.
Officers ran checks in their patrol car and confirmed the license was valid, there were no warrants, and learned Washington was on parole and a confidential informant had implicated him in drug trafficking.
Officer Reinhart had written a citation for the signal violation and held Washington’s license and the citation while the officers decided to seek consent to search the vehicle.
While Reinhart (with license/ticket in hand) asked for consent to search, Washington said he did not mind; he was then asked to exit the vehicle.
As Washington was being guided alongside the car, Officer Picking observed a bulge at Washington’s waistband, retrieved a handgun, and arrested him; the encounter lasted about seven minutes.
The defendant moved to suppress the firearm, arguing the continued detention and the consent given while the license/ticket were retained were unlawful/coerced; the court granted suppression.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether officers lawfully continued the stop to request consent after completing traffic tasks	Continued questioning was lawful and brief; routine inquiries do not require return of documents first	Retention of license/citation after traffic tasks unlawfully prolonged detention	Continued detention was unlawful once lawful traffic tasks were completed and documents were retained
Whether consent to search was tainted fruit of unlawful detention	Any consent was voluntary and attenuated from the stop	Consent was given while detained (license/ticket withheld), so it was tainted by the unlawful seizure	Consent was tainted by the unlawful detention and cannot justify the search
Whether consent was voluntary under the totality of circumstances	Consent was voluntary; routine, brief encounter with professional officers	Retention of documents, two officers, nighttime/deserted location created coercive pressure	Under the totality of circumstances consent was not voluntary (coercive)
Whether evidence (firearm) must be suppressed	Firearm was discovered incident to consent/search and/or incident to lawful arrest	Firearm was discovered only because the unlawful continuation and coerced consent forced defendant to exit and led to seizure	Firearm suppressed as fruit of the unlawful detention and involuntary consent

Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491 (consent obtained during unlawful detention is tainted)
Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429 (consensual encounter test: would a reasonable person feel free to decline and leave)
Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (voluntariness of consent judged by totality of circumstances)
Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. 405 (traffic stop may not be prolonged beyond mission without reasonable suspicion)
Muehler v. Mena, 544 U.S. 93 (distinguishing permissible scope/duration of detention)
United States v. Everett, 601 F.3d 484 (6th Cir.) (abandoning traffic mission signals lack of diligence/prolongation)
United States v. Beauchamp, 659 F.3d 560 (6th Cir.) (reasonable‑person test for feeling free to leave)
United States v. Richardson, 385 F.3d 625 (6th Cir.) (words/actions can make driver feel not free to leave)
United States v. Lopez‑Arias, 344 F.3d 623 (6th Cir.) (consent given after illegal seizure is tainted unless sufficiently attenuated)
United States v. Blanco, 844 F.2d 344 (6th Cir.) (consent that is product of violation is nullity)
United States v. Cavitt, 550 F.3d 430 (5th Cir.) (retention of ID suggests coercion)
United States v. Weaver, 282 F.3d 302 (4th Cir.) (retaining license forces Hobson’s choice)
United States v. Culp, 860 F.Supp.2d 459 (W.D. Mich.) (suppressing evidence obtained after unlawfully prolonged stop)
United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S. 194 (context can affect whether a person feels free to refuse police requests)