v. Delage — Searches and Seizures —Consent —Voluntariness

JUSTICE HART delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 This case presents us the opportunity to clarify whether the voluntariness of consent to a search in Colorado must be proven by "clear and convincing evidence" or by "a preponderance of the evidence." Under federal law, the answer is clear, as the United States Supreme Court explained more than *1179 forty years ago that voluntariness need only be shown by a preponderance of the evidence. We hold today that in Colorado courts the same standard applies and that the People must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that a search was consented to…