U.S. v. Palmer, 77-3548

• Decision Date: 22 May 1978
• Docket Number: No. 77-3548,77-3548
• Citation: 575 F.2d 721
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lucinda PALMER, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 721

575 F.2d 721

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lucinda PALMER, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 77-3548.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

May 22, 1978.

Joseph Shemaria, of Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellant.

Andrea Sheridan Ordin, U. S. Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee.

On appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Before MERRILL and KENNEDY, Circuit Judges, and BARTELS, ^* District Judge.

MERRILL, Circuit Judge:

This appeal is taken from conviction of importation of cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Appellant was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport customs area on her arrival from Panama, when a search revealed her possession of twenty-four ounces of cocaine.

The search was conducted by a female customs inspector. She first noticed that appellant was walking in a manner ("strained, with little mincing steps") that in the inspector's experience indicated either that appellant's suitcase was unusually heavy or that she was wearing something that restricted her movements. The suitcase, on examination, proved not to be heavy enough to account for appellant's manner of walking. Appellant was passed through, left the customs area and went to the baggage claim area. Five to seven minutes later, the customs inspector located her there and asked her to return to the customs area for further examination. Appellant's strained manner of walking persisted, even though she was no longer carrying her suitcase. The inspector gave appellant a patdown that disclosed that she was wearing a girdle. With reference to this disclosure the inspector testified:

"It seemed unusual to me because upon viewing Ms. Palmer's overall person, she is a very slender woman, and girls nowadays just don't wear a heavy elastic girdle. * * * I find that in my experience over the years at the airport we find that slender women, particularly if they have a good figure, wear very little undergarments, particularly the bras. And in all the time that I have been there, I think there have only been three or four women that I have ever encountered with girdles on. The only slender one was Ms. Palmer. The other ones were elderly women."

Adding to the cause for the inspector's suspicion were the facts testified to by her that appellant wore no brassiere, that her dress was loose-fitting and that a heavy girdle seemed an odd combination with this light outer wear, particularly on a lengthy air flight. The inspector then requested appellant to lift her dress so that the girdle could be observed. Three packages of cocaine were disclosed, held in place by the girdle and surgical tape.

Appellant first contends that since the search occurred after she had left the customs area, it was not a border search and that under Almeida-Sanchez v. United States, 413 U.S. 266, 93 S.Ct. 2535, 37 L.Ed.2d 596 (1973), probable cause was necessary to render the search lawful. The contention that a search conducted after the passenger has been passed through customs can never be considered as a border search has been rejected by this court. United States v. Mejias, 452 F.2d 1190 (9th Cir. 1970). There we upheld as a border search a search that took place an hour to an hour and a half after the passenger had left the customs area but was still present with his luggage, in an adjacent area. We hold that the search here was a border search.

Appellant next contends that even as a border search the necessary cause to conduct a search with this degree of intrusiveness was lacking. She contends that her manner of walking, which aroused the inspector's suspicions and created justification for the patdown, was explained by the fact, disclosed by the patdown, that she was wearing a girdle. She contends that under United States v. Price, 472 F.2d 573 (9th Cir. 197...