Lead Opinion
opinion of the Court:
¶ 1 Although the Fourth Amendment generally prohibits warrantless searches, they are permitted if there is free and voluntary consent to search. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte,
¶ 2 Arizona’s implied consent law provides that “[a] person who operates a motor vehicle in this state gives consent ... to a test or tests of the person’s blood, breath, urine or other bodily substance” if the person is arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (“DUI”). A.R.S. § 28-1321(A). Nevertheless, “the statute generally does not authorize law enforcement officers to administer the test without a warrant unless the [operator] expressly agrees to the test.” Carrillo v. Houser,
I. BACKGROUND
¶ 3 In reviewing the denial of a defendant’s motion to suppress, we consider only “evidence presented at the suppression hearing and view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the trial court’s ruling.” State v. Hausner,
¶ 4 In August 2012, a Department of Public Safety (“DPS”) officer found Francisco Valenzuela asleep in the driver’s seat of his stopped truck with the engine running and the vehicle in gear. After spotting an open container of alcohol, detecting a strong odor of alcohol, and observing signs that Valenzuela was impaired, the officer arrested Valenzuela on suspicion of DUI.
¶ 5 After taking Valenzuela to a police station, the officer read Valenzuela an “admin per se” form, which provided, in part, that “Arizona law requires you to submit to and successfully complete tests of breath, blood or other bodily substance as chosen by a law enforcement officer to determine alcohol concentration or drug content.” The officer stressed this “requirement” three additional times and warned that refusal would result in a one-year suspension of Valenzuela’s driver’s license. (Although the officer read from part of the form while testifying at the suppression hearing, the form itself is not in the record.) Valenzuela cooperated and, in response to the officer’s questions, stated he understood the admonition and had no
¶ 6 Valenzuela moved to suppress the test results. He argued that he did not voluntarily consent to the tests, and the warrantless search therefore violated his Fourth Amendment rights. After conducting a suppression hearing at which only the DPS officer testified, the trial court denied the motion, reasoning that the totality of the circumstances showed that Valenzuela had voluntarily consented to the search. Based on the parties’ stipulated facts, the court subsequently dismissed three counts, convicted Valenzuela on the remaining counts, and imposed prison sentences.
¶ 7 In a divided decision, the court of appeals affirmed. State v. Valenzuela,
¶ 8 We granted Valenzuela’s petition for review because it presents a recurring legal question of statewide importance. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article 6, section 5, of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. § 12-120.24.
II. DISCUSSION
¶ 9 We review the denial of a motion to suppress evidence for abuse of discretion, considering the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the ruling. State v. Wilson,
A. Fourth Amendment principles
¶ 10 The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects individuals against “unreasonable searches and seizures,” and any evidence collected in violation of this provision is generally inadmissible in a subsequent criminal trial. Mapp v. Ohio,
¶ 11 One exception to the warrant requirement is a search conducted with consent. See Schneckloth,
B. Application of admonishment given pursuant to § 28-1321, Arizona’s implied consent law
¶ 12 Valenzuela argues that, under Bumper, his consent to providing blood and breath samples must be deemed involuntary because he consented only after the officer advised that Arizona law required him. to submit to testing. The State responds, and the court of appeals majority agreed, that Bumper is distinguishable, and the totality of the circumstances evidences Valenzuela’s voluntary consent to the search. Valenzuela,
¶ 13 In Bumper, law enforcement officers went to a home where a suspect lived with his grandmother.
¶ 14 Valenzuela, the court of appeals dissent, and our dissenting colleague read Bumper as holding that consent is necessarily involuntary whenever police have asserted lawful authority to search, regardless of other circumstances. See Valenzuela,
¶ 15 Schneckloth indicates that Bumper did not establish a per se rule. The issue in Schneckloth concerned what the prosecution must show to demonstrate that a consent to seai’ch was given voluntarily.
¶ 16 The Schneckloth Court’s discussion of Johnson, which Bumper relied on, further supports our view. In Johnson, federal narcotics agents smelled burning opium outside a hotel room and gained entry after one agent knocked on the door, identified himself as a lieutenant, and then stated, “I want to talk to you a little bit.”
¶ 17 Our dissenting colleague suggests that we are misreading Schneckloth as displacing the Court’s holdings in Bumper, Johnson, and Amos. See infra ¶ 39. That is incorrect. We merely reject the notion that whenever a law enforcement officer has asserted a claim of lawful authority to search, “a court’s analysis has reached its end” and consent must be deemed involuntary as a matter of law. See Valenzuela,
¶ 19 Our dissenting colleague’s position is not far removed from ours. He rejects an examination of other circumstances only when consent to a search “is immediately preceded by an assertion of lawful authority.” See infra ¶ 47. It is unlikely, but not impossible, that the state could meet its burden to prove that consent is voluntary if given immediately after an assertion of lawful authority to search. Cf. Hoover v. Beto,
¶ 20 Since Schneckloth, the Court’s declarations in other cases involving voluntary consent to search bolster the view that a court must examine the totality of the circumstances even when officers assert a lawful authority to search. See Drayton,
¶ 21 For these reasons, we hold that a trial court should examine the totality of the cir
¶ 22 Based on our review of the suppression hearing evidence, we conclude that the State failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Valenzuela’s consent was voluntary. Bumper and Johnson direct this outcome. By telling Valenzuela multiple times that Arizona law required him to submit to and complete testing to determine AC or drug content, the officer invoked lawful authority and effectively proclaimed that Valenzuela had no right to resist the search. See Bumper,
¶ 23 Our society expects, and unquestionably demands, that people follow directives issued by law enforcement officers. Cf. Bumper,
¶ 24 The State argues that Bumper is distinguishable because the officer there effectively told the grandmother she had no right to resist the search by claiming to have a warrant, while the DPS officer here correctly informed Valenzuela that Arizona law required him to submit to testing or his license would be suspended. The implied consent law, however, nowhere “requires” a DUI arrestee to submit to testing, and the DPS officer’s admonition therefore did not mirror the statute. See A.R.S. § 28-1321(A), (B) (stating that although a DUI arrestee “gives consent” to testing of blood, breath, or other bodily substance, he “shall be requested to submit to and successfully complete” any such test) (emphasis added). But even assuming that the officer accurately paraphrased the law, this distinction is immaterial. The Bumper Court’s ruling turned on
¶ 25 The State also argues that Bumper is inapplicable because, regardless of the DPS officer’s admonitions in this case, Valenzuela consented to the search pursuant to § 28-1321(A) by operating a vehicle within the state. Although § 28-1321 validly provides an arrestee’s consent to civil penalties for refusing or failing to complete requested tests, we have rejected the contention that the implied consent law operates to prospectively provide consent to a search for Fourth Amendment purposes. See Butler,
¶26 The State misreads McNeely. The issue there was whether the dissipation rate of alcohol in the bloodstream constitutes an exigency that justifies warrantless searches in all drunk-driving cases.
¶ 27 The court of appeals majority distinguished Bumper because, unlike the grandmother there, Valenzuela supposedly knew he could refuse consent. Valenzuela,
¶ 28 We do not hold today that § 28-1321 violates the Fourth Amendment or that officers must cease advising arrestees about the law’s requirements and the civil consequences for refusal.
¶ 29 A law enforcement officer can invoke the implied consent law without infringing on an arrestee’s Fourth Amendment rights by following the procedure set forth in § 28-1321(B). After making a DUI arrest, the officer should ask whether the arrestee will consent to provide samples of blood, breath, or other bodily substances for testing. If the arrestee expressly agrees and successfully completes testing, the officer need not advise the arrestee of the statutory consequences for refusing consent. The officer must, however, advise the arrestee before testing that the outcome of the tests may result in the penalties set forth in § 28—1321(B)(1) and (2). If the arrestee refuses to consent to testing or fails to successfully complete the tests, the officer should advise the arrestee of the consequences for refusal or incomplete testing as provided in § 28-1321(B), and then ask again whether the arrestee will consent to testing. Although this choice “will not be an easy or pleasant one for a suspect to make,” this difficulty does not make the decision coerced. South Dakota v. Neville,
¶ 30 In sum, we hold that the State failed to carry its burden to show by a preponderance of the evidence that Valenzuela freely and voluntarily consented to providing samples of his blood and breath. By advising Valenzuela after he was arrested and detained that Arizona law required him to submit to testing, the officer invoked lawful authority to compel consent. Because nothing in the suppression hearing record dispels the coercive implication of the officer’s repeated admonition, the trial court erred by finding that Valenzuela had voluntarily consented to the search and then denying the motion to suppress the test results on that basis. Cf. Medicine,
C. Good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule
¶31 The State alternatively argues, as it did at the suppression hearing, that the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies, and the trial court therefore properly denied the motion to suppress. The exclusionary rule, which allows suppression of evidence obtained in violation
¶ 32 The good-faith exception applies here. Well before the DPS officer advised Valenzuela from the admin per se form, this Court characterized Arizona’s implied consent law as “requiring] a person to submit to a chemical test of his blood, [breath] or urine if arrested for [DUI] or face a ... suspension of his driver’s license.” Campbell,
¶ 33 We today hold that consent given solely in acquiescence to the admonition used here and in Brito is not free and voluntary under the Fourth Amendment and cannot excuse the failure to secure a warrant. But at the time of events here, the DPS officer followed binding precedent that had sanctioned use of the admonition read to Valenzuela, and the good-faith exception therefore applies. Cf. Davis,
¶ 34 The dissent contends that use of the admin per se form reflects “recurring or systemic negligence” by law enforcement because this Court in Carrillo “expressly rejected] Brito’s assertion that Arizona’s implied consent statute requires suspects to submit to testing.” See infra ¶ 57. But Carrillo did not address whether the implied consent statute “requires” submission to testing as stated in Campbell and Brito. Instead, Carrillo held that, as a matter of statutory interpretation, the implied consent statute requires that an arrestee “unequivocally manifest assent to the testing by words or conduct” before officers can conduct warrantless testing.
¶ 35 In short, the DPS officer here did not “deliberately, recklessly, or with gross negligence” conduct the search in violation of the Fourth Amendment, but instead acted with “an objectively reasonable good-faith belief’ that the admonition was lawful. Davis,
III. CONCLUSION
¶ 36 We vacate the court of appeals’ opinion and affirm Valenzuela’s convictions and resulting sentences.
Notes
. In State v. Cañez, this Court mistakenly stated that the state must prove voluntary consent "by clear and positive evidence in unequivocal words or conduct expressing consent.”
. The Supreme Court is currently considering whether, in the absence of a warrant, a state may criminalize a person’s refusal to submit to a test to detect a person’s AC. See Bernard v. Minnesota,-U.S.-,
Concurrence Opinion
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
¶ 37 I agree that Valenzuela did not voluntarily consent to the warrantless search, and I therefore specially concur in parts I, II.A, and II.B of the majority opinion. In two respects, however, I disagree with the majority’s analysis. First, I would hold that a person cannot, as a matter of law, be deemed to have voluntarily consented by acquiescing when police assert a search is lawfully authorized (or, as the police stated here, “required” by law). Second, I would not address, in the first instance, the application of the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule, but if I had to reach the merits, I would hold that the exception does not apply. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent from parts II.C and III.
I.
¶ 38 Consistent with Schneckloth, the majority recognizes that the voluntariness of consent to a search is determined by the “totality of the circumstances.” Supra ¶ 11. In most eases, this inquiry is a factual determination that considers various aspects of the setting in which a search occurs, the conduct of law enforcement officers, and the characteristics of the person who submits to the search. See Schneckloth,
¶ 39 “Where there is coercion there cannot be consent.” Bumper,
¶ 40 The lawful authority principle is clearly illustrated by Bumper, where the Court held that a homeowner’s consent was involuntary solely because it was immediately preceded by an officer’s assertion that he had a warrant. Id. at 548-49,
¶ 41 Despite the circumstances suggesting the homeowner was not pressured to submit, the Court in Bumper treated as dispositive
¶ 42 Bumper comports with prior Supreme Court decisions. In Johnson v. United States,
¶ 43 Johnson in turn cited Amos v. United States,
¶ 44 We should read Schneckloth as preserving the lawful authority principle. Most significantly, the principle respects Fourth Amendment values by recognizing that we expect people to comply with police assertions of lawful authority and that acquiescence in such assertions should not be viewed as “freely and voluntarily” given consent.
¶ 45 Schneckloth, moreover, quoted Bumper ’s reasoning approvingly and otherwise indicates the Court did not intend to displace its earlier case law. Citing Bumper, Johnson, and Amos, the Court noted “if under all the circumstances it has appeared that the consent was not given voluntarily—that it was coerced by threats or force, or granted only in submission to a claim of lawful authority—then we have found the consent invalid and the search unreasonable.”
¶ 46 Schneckloth did not itself involve an assertion of lawful authority to conduct a search, but instead whether the prosecution must show that a person knew he or she had a right to refuse in order to establish that consent was voluntarily given.
¶ 48 In rejecting this proposition, the majority identifies two hypotheticals. Supra ¶ 18. The first is when an officer retracts an assertion of lawful authority before a person accedes to a search. This hypothetical does not argue against the lawful authority principle. The principle rests on the inherent coereiveness of the assertion of lawful authority; it does not apply when the assertion is withdrawn before a person assents to a search.
¶ 49 The second hypothetical—where an officer’s assertion of authority is contradicted by a private third-party before the person submits to a search—also does not support rejecting the lawful authority principle. One might conclude that the inherently coercive nature of the officer’s assertion cannot be dispelled by unofficial, third-party statements. To hold otherwise would require finding that a person can completely ignore the officer’s claimed authority and “freely” submit after a third party tells them they need not do so. None of the cases cited by the majority, supra ¶ 18, involve a third party contradicting an officer’s assertion of authority. Nor need we address that issue here: the officer’s assertion immediately preceded Valenzuela’s assent to the search.
¶ 50 The majority also implicitly recognizes that the Schneckloth “totality test” must apply differently when, as is true here, an officer has asserted lawful authority to conduct a search. The majority—like the Supreme Court in Bumper and Johnson—does not find significant various circumstances that generally apply under a “totality” test, but instead gives dispositive weight to the officer’s repeated assertions of lawful authority. Compare ¶ ¶ 22-23 (concluding that Valenzuela’s “consent,” like the grandmother’s consent in Bumper, was involuntary because nothing dispelled the coercive nature of the assertion of authority) with Valenzuela,
¶ 51 A better path to the majority’s conclusion would be holding that consent cannot, as a matter of law, be deemed voluntary when it is immediately preceded by a claim of lawful authority. Reaffirming this lawful authority principle would remain faithful to Supreme Court precedent while protecting Fourth Amendment values and providing clearer guidance for the public, law enforcement, and our courts.
II.
¶ 52 The majority, recognizing that Valenzuela’s consent was involuntary, goes on to hold that the evidence obtained from the unlawful search is admissible under the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule. ¶¶ 30-32. The good-faith exception was not addressed by the trial court or the court of appeals.
¶ 53 Application of the good-faith exception can involve complicated considerations of the social costs and deterrent benefits from excluding the evidence at issue. See, e.g., Herring v. United States,
¶ 54 On the merits, I disagree with the majority’s analysis. Davis states that when law enforcement officers “act with an objectively reasonable good-faith belief that their conduct is lawful,” deterrence is unnecessary and the exclusionary rule does not apply.
¶ 55 In this case, the officer’s use of an MVD admin per se form inaccurately telling people that they are required to submit to tests reflects at least “recurring or systemic negligence.” Id. In applying the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule, courts expect that “[rjesponsible law-enforcement officers will take care to learn what is required of them” under binding precedent and “conform their conduct to these rules.” Id. at 2429 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).
¶ 56 More than five years ago, in Carrillo v. Houser,
¶ 57 Carrillo establishes that police officers were misstating the law when they admonished arrestees, based on the MVD form, that they are required to submit to tests. The misstatement does not occur just once. The form states that “Arizona law requires you to submit” to a warrantless test, and repeats that “requirement” under Arizona law no fewer than three more times. To underscore the point, the form concludes by stating “You are, therefore, required to submit to the specified tests.” Carrillo was decided in 2010. Insofar as law enforcement officers have continued to coercively admonish DUI suspects that “Arizona law requires” submission to warrantless tests, they have ignored this Court’s binding precedent.
¶ 58 Given Carrillo, I cannot accept the majority’s conclusions that “binding precedent” sanctioned the admonition given to Valenzuela and “the good-faith exception therefore applies.” Supra ¶ 33. As a decision by this Court, Carrillo is the binding authority regarding the meaning of the implied consent statute, and its legal force does not depend on our expressly singling out inconsistent lower court decisions or administrative practices. The majority’s reliance on State v. Brito,
¶ 59 Extending Davis to apply the good-faith exception when the law is unsettled incentivizes, rather than deters, unconstitutional behavior. See Davis,
