United States v. Milton L. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116 (D.C. Cir. 1990). · Go Syfert
United States v. Milton L. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116 (D.C. Cir. 1990). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
38 citation events (2 in the last 25 years) across 7 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: United States v. James A. McKines (ca8, 1991-05-17)
Treatment trajectory · 1990 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
1990 2008 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 21 distinct citers.
discussed Cited as authority (quoted) United States v. James A. McKines
8th Cir. · 1991 · signal: see also · quote attribution · 1 verbatim quote · confidence low
the consent to search luggage validates the search both of the luggage and of containers within the luggage.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Sparks
D.D.C. · 2022 · confidence medium
It is well-settled “that an encounter between a police officer and a citizen, involving no more than approach, questioning, and official identification, does not constitute a seizure and does not require probable cause, articulable suspicion, or any other kind of objective justification.” United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1118 (D.C.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Ware v. United States
D.C. · 1996 · confidence medium
Accord, Florida v. Bostick, supra, 501 U.S. at 435 , 111 S.Ct. at 2386 (no seizure occurs when police ask questions of an individual, ask to see his identification, and request consent to search his luggage, "as long as the police do not convey a message that compliance with their requests is required”); Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 497 , 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1324 , 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983) (plurality opinion) ("law enforcement officers do not violate the Fourth Amendment by merely approaching an individual on the street or in another public place, by asking him if he is willing to answer some qu…
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Burton v. United States (2×)
D.C. · 1994 · confidence medium
D.C. 64, 66, 901 F.2d 1116, 1118 (1990); United States v. Lloyd, 276 U.S.App.D.C. 118, 122 , 868 F.2d 447, 451 (1989). [8] See also Symes v. United States, 633 A.2d 51, 53-54 (D.C.1993); In re J.M., 596 A.2d 961, 967 (D.C.1991); Kelly v. United States, 580 A.2d 1282, 1288 (D.C.1990); Davis v. United States, 532 A.2d 656, 658 (D.C.1987). [9] The factors the Schneckloth Court deemed to be important in assessing the "totality of the circumstances" were "the youth of the accused; his lack of education, or his low intelligence; the lack of any advice to the accused of his constitutional rights; the…
cited Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Williams
D.D.C. · 1993 · confidence medium
E.g., United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1118 (D.C.Cir.) (quoting United States v. Joseph, 892 F.2d 118, 122 (D.C.Cir.1989)), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 863 , 111 S.Ct. 172 , 112 L.Ed.2d 136 (1990).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Albert A. Enriquez
9th Cir. · 1991 · confidence medium
See also United States v. Dyer, 784 F.2d 812 (7th Cir.1986) (valid consent to search article includes consent to search all enclosed containers found therein); United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1119 (D.C.Cir.1990) (holding that "valid consent, unwithdrawn, to search a container, extends to a search of other containers found therein, at least where the inner container is such that it could contain the object of the search.") 10 Enriquez knew that Alapa would be looking for drugs in his bag.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Melissa Springs
D.C. Cir. · 1991 · confidence medium
Faced with a similar factual scenario in United States v. Smith, we observed “that an encounter between a police officer and a citizen, involving no more than approach, questioning, and official identification, does not constitute a seizure.” United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1118 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 111 S.Ct. 172 , 112 L.Ed.2d 136 (1990).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Alfonso P. Samuels
D.C. Cir. · 1991 · confidence medium
See United States v. Morgan, 914 F.2d 272, 274 (D.C.Cir.1990) (per curiam); United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1118 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 172 , 112 L.Ed.2d 136 (1990); United States v. Maragh, 894 F.2d 415, 418 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 214 , 112 L.Ed.2d 174 (1990).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Jose Antonio Caballero, United States of America v. Jose Antonio Caballero
D.C. Cir. · 1991 · confidence medium
See, e.g., United States v. Nurse, 916 F.2d 20, 23 (D.C.Cir.1990); United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1117-18 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 111 S.Ct. 172 , 112 L.Ed.2d 136 (1990); United States v. Winston, 892 F.2d 112 (D.C.Cir.1989), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 110 S.Ct. 3277 , 111 L.Ed.2d 787 (1990); United States v. Joseph, 892 F.2d 118 (D.C.Cir.1989); United States v. Baskin, 886 F.2d 383 (D.C.Cir.1989), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 110 S.Ct. 1831 , 108 L.Ed.2d 960 (1990); United States v. Lloyd, 868 F.2d 447 (D.C.Cir.1989).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Guadalupe v. United States (2×)
D.C. · 1991 · confidence medium
Id. at 105 , 892 F.2d at 121 (quoting Gomez v. Turner, 217 U.S.App.D.C. 281, 288-98 , 672 F.2d 134, 141-44 (1982) (emphasis added)). 5 We quoted with approval, Kelly, supra note 2, 580 A.2d at 1288, the Circuit’s language in a case subsequent to Joseph that an encounter that involves “no more than approach, questioning, and official identification, does not constitute a seizure and does not require probable cause, articu-lable suspicion, or any other ‘kind of objective justification.’ ” United States v. Smith, 284 U.S.App.D.C. 64, 66 , 901 F.2d 1116, 1118 (citations omitted), cert. d…
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Allan H. Walker
D.C. Cir. · 1990 · confidence medium
Id. at 9-10. 5 This court has considered and rejected similar "constitutional arguments on numerous recent occasions in cases presenting directly parallel facts at the same Amtrak terminal and other public transportation facilities." United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1117 (D.C.Cir.1990) (citations omitted).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Kelly v. United States
D.C. · 1990 · confidence medium
Most recently, the District of Columbia Circuit reiterated its position in a case involving facts nearly identical to those in the case at bar: [W]e commend to the interested reader the prior decisions and simply observe once more that an encounter between a police officer and a citizen, involving no more than approach, questioning, and official identification, does not constitute a seizure and does not require probable cause, articulable suspicion, or any other “ ‘kind of objective justification.’ ” United States v. Smith, 284 U.S.App.D.C. 64, 66 , 901 F.2d 1116, 1118 (1990) (citation…
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Smithen
D.D.C. · 1990 · confidence medium
Most recently, the Court of Appeals has unequivocally declared, “an encounter between a police officer and a citizen, involving no more than approach, questioning, and official identification, does not constitute a seizure and does not require probable cause, articulable suspicion, or any other ‘kind of objective justification.’ ” United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1118 (D.C.Cir.1990) (citations omitted).
discussed Cited "see" United States v. Wayne Kidder Barr
9th Cir. · 1991 · signal: see · confidence high
See United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1119 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 111 S.Ct. 172 (1990); United States v. Battista, 876 F.2d 201, 207-8 (D.C.Cir.1989); United States v. Anderson, 859 F.2d 1171, 1176 (3d Cir.1988). 13 Finally, we reject defendant's claim that the intervening arrest "erased" the defendant's initial consent to the search so that the opening of the package to recover the drugs was in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
discussed Cited "see" Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. v. Skinner (2×)
D.D.C. · 1991 · signal: see · confidence high
See Independent U.S. Tanker Owners Committee v. Skinner, 901 F.2d 1116 (D.C.Cir.1990).
discussed Cited "see" State v. Carter
Utah Ct. App. · 1991 · signal: see · confidence high
See United, States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116 (D.C.Cir.), cert, denied, — U.S.-, 111 S.Ct. 172 , 112 L.Ed.2d 136 (1990); see also United States v. Maragh, 894 F.2d 415 (D.C.Cir.), cert, denied, — U.S.-, 111 S.Ct. 214 , 112 L.Ed.2d 174 (1990).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." State v. Castner
Utah Ct. App. · 1992 · signal: see also · confidence medium
See also United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1119 (D.C.Cir.1990) (consent to search luggage for drugs allowed, search of a paper bag as “paper bag within a suitcase is as likely to contain drugs as the luggage itself”); United States v. Anderson, 859 F.2d 1171, 1176 (3d Cir.1989) (where defendant consented to search of his car for “any letters, documents, papers, materials or other property which is pertinent to the investigation,” this authorized police to look in the trunk and to open closed bags).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." United States v. Dennis S. Lewis. United States of America v. Leigha T. Cothran
D.C. Cir. · 1990 · signal: see also · confidence medium
Applying these factors, we have repeatedly concluded that no seizure arises when officers, “displaying no weapons and speaking in a normal tone of voice, approach individuals in a public place and ask permission to talk with them.” United States v. Morgan, 914 F.2d 272, 274 (D.C. *1298 Cir.1990) (per curiam); see also United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1117-18 (D.C.Cir.) (citing additional cases), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 111 S.Ct. 172 , 112 L.Ed.2d 136 (1990).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." United States v. Carol Y. Yates
D.C. Cir. · 1990 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence medium
See, e.g., United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1118 (D.C.Cir.) ("an encounter between a police officer and a citizen, involving no more than approach, questioning, and official identification, does not constitute a seizure and does not require probable cause, articulable suspicion, or any other " 'kind of objective justification' " ") (quoting United States v. Maragh, 894 F.2d 415, 418 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 111 S.Ct. 214 (1990), and Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 497 (1983)), cert. denied, 111 S.Ct. 172 (199).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." United States v. Robin Nurse
D.C. Cir. · 1990 · signal: see also · confidence medium
See also United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1118 (D.C.Cir.1990) (“an encounter between a police officer and a citizen, involving no more than approach, questioning, and official identification, does not constitute a seizure and does not require probable cause, articulable suspicion, or any other ‘kind of objective justification,’ ” (citation omitted)); United States v. Baskin, 886 F.2d 383, 386-87 (D.C.Cir.1989), ce rt. denied, — U.S. -, 110 S.Ct. 1831 , 108 L.Ed.2d 960 (1990).
cited Cited "see, e.g." United States v. Glen D. Morgan, United States of America v. John R. Garner, Jr.
D.C. Cir. · 1990 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence medium
See, e.g., United States v. Smith, 901 F.2d 1116, 1118 (D.C.Cir.1990); United States v. Maragh, 894 F.2d 415, 418-19 (D.C.Cir.1990); United States v. Lloyd, 868 F.2d 447, 450-51 (D.C.Cir.1989).
UNITED STATES of America
v.
Milton L. SMITH, Appellant
88-3159.
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Apr 17, 1990.
901 F.2d 1116
Paul J. Riley, appointed by this Court, for appellant., Anthony P. Farley, Asst. U.S. Atty., of the bar of the District of Columbia, pro hac vice, by special leave of Court, with whom Jay B. Stephens, U.S. Atty., and John R. Fisher, Asst. U.S. Atty., were on the brief, for appellee.
Silberman, Buckley, Sentelle.
Cited by 28 opinions  |  Published
1 passage pin-cited by 1 case
Pinpoint authority: bottom 73%
Citer courts: Eighth Circuit (1)

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge SENTELLE.

SENTELLE, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal from his conviction under a one-count indictment charging unlawful possession with intent to distribute cocaine, Milton L. Smith (“Smith” or “appellant”) challenges the District Court’s denial of his Motion to Suppress Evidence. Appellant contends that the cocaine which was the subject of the motion was taken from him in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. We conclude that the District Court did not err in its decision that appellant’s rights were not violated, and affirm that Court’s decision, for the reasons set out more fully below.

I. Background

According to the evidence received and credited by the District Court at the suppression hearing, Smith arrived at Amtrak Union Station in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 1988, between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. Two Metropolitan Police Department officers assigned to the Narcotics Branch Interdiction Unit, Sergeant John Brennan and Detective Barbara Lyles, noticed Smith when he was engaged in a loud telephone conversation at a pay station near the information booth of the Amtrak terminal. After Brennan overheard Smith say, “They will never find me down here, they don’t know where I am staying” or words to that effect, they began to pay attention to him. They noticed that he was carrying two pieces of luggage. Shortly after the conversation, Brennan approached Smith and engaged him in a conversation wherein Smith stated that he was waiting for a train to Fayette-ville, North Carolina, and had just arrived on a plane from New Jersey. Brennan then identified himself as a member of the Narcotics Branch and asked twice if he could search Smith’s luggage. Each time, Smith gave a “positive response.” Brennan testified at trial that it was his policy to ask twice for consent to search a bag, even when the first response was positive, in order that he could be certain of the response.

Inside a leather tote bag, Brennan found a closed brown paper bag. He opened the brown paper bag which, in turn, contained a large plastic bag filled with a white powder, later found to be cocaine. On these facts, the District Court concluded that no unlawful search or seizure had occurred, that none of appellant’s rights had been violated, and that the Motion to Suppress must be denied.

II. Analysis

Appellant’s attack on the District Court’s denial of his Suppression Motion is threefold. First, he contends that the officers, by confronting him without probable cause, conducted an illegal seizure of his person. Second, he contends that the search of his luggage was not based on voluntary consent, because the officers had not acted on a suggestion of a district judge in a prior case that they should expressly warn persons approached in the interdiction program of their right to freely walk away, and because, in appellant’s view, it is not logical to conclude that a person who knew his luggage to contain contraband would consent to such a search. Third, Smith argues that even if he had given consent to search the tote bag, that consent did not extend to the officers’ examination of the contents of a paper bag contained within the tote bag. None of these three arguments exposes any error on the part of the District Judge.

As to the first two of appellant’s contentions, we need say but little. We have considered the same constitutional arguments on numerous recent occasions in cases presenting directly parallel facts at the same Amtrak terminal and other public transportation facilities. See, e.g., United States v. Maragh, 894 F.2d 415 (D.C.Cir.1990); United States v. Winston, 892 F.2d 112 (D.C.Cir.1989); United States v. Joseph, 892 F.2d 118 (D.C.Cir.1989); and United States v. Lloyd, 868 F.2d 447 (D.C.[*1118] Cir.1989). To engage in any extended discussion of these arguments would be not only replowing the same ground previously turned in the cited cases and others referenced within them, it would be to plow once more in ground that has been turned, harrowed, furrowed, seeded, and is now producing a luxuriant crop. Therefore, we commend to the interested reader the prior decisions and simply observe once more that an encounter between a police officer and a citizen, involving no more than approach, questioning, and official identification, does not constitute a seizure and does not require probable cause, articulable suspicion, or any other “ ‘kind of objective justification.’ ” Maragh, 894 F.2d at 418 (quoting Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 497, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1324, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983)). As to the consent question, we again observe that the teaching of Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973), establishing that voluntariness is not dependent upon the giving of a Miranda -type warning of Fourth Amendment rights, is as applicable at a train terminal as anywhere else in the country. See, e.g., Joseph, 892 F.2d at 122. Without further ado, we affirm the District Court on both of these questions.

The search of the brown paper bag within the luggage does present a slight variation from the facts considered in our previous decisions, raising as it does the issue whether consent to search one container extends to searches of opaque sub-containers found therein. However, this variation is one which makes no difference. Our decision in United States v. Battista, 876 F.2d 201 (D.C.Cir.1989), appears to be controlling on this point. In that case, an Amtrak passenger had afforded police permission to search his roomette. During the course of that consensual search, the police located a locked suitcase. Battista consented to the search of the suitcase, unlocking it and opening it for the officers. While searching the suitcase, the officers encountered plastic-wrapped packages which they searched without further consent from Bat-tista. In upholding the District Court decision to deny suppression of cocaine found in those plastic packages, we stated:

Battista’s ... contention regarding the scope of his consent relates to whether [the officer], once inside the suitcase, needed further consent to probe the plastic packages he discovered therein. In effect, Battista would turn the search of this bag into a game of “Mother-may-I,” in which [the officer] would have to ask for new permission to remove each article from the suitcase to see what lay underneath. We decline to impose such an unrealistic restriction on an officer’s ability to make a search that is reasonably targeted, within the confines of his authority — here, consent to search the suitcase — to uncover the object of the search. Early on in the encounter, Bat-tista was informed that he was suspected of carrying illegal drugs. When he voluntarily opened his suitcase and consented to its search, he did not authorize a search in the abstract. Rather, he authorized a search for drugs. [The officer] was therefore justified in probing the contents of the suitcase, within reasonable limits, as was necessary to uncover this particular contraband.

876 F.2d at 207-08 (emphasis in original) (citing United States v. Dyer, 784 F.2d 812, 816 (7th Cir.1986) (“The consent to search luggage validates the search both of the luggage and of containers within the luggage.”)).

We also note that certain state court decisions are helpful and persuasive on this point. For example, the Supreme Court of Indiana has held that the consent to search a container “operate[s] as a consent to search items found within the [container] which [are] pertinent to the investigation being conducted.” Heald v. State, 492 N.E.2d 671, 680 (Ind.1986) (citing United States v. Torres, 663 F.2d 1019 (10th Cir.1981)). In Heald, police officers had obtained consent to search a suspect’s handbag. In the course of the search they extracted a letter from an unsealed envelope found within the bag. Because the letter contained incriminating statements by the defendant, she moved to suppress and contended that her “permission to[*1119] search did not extend to the contents of the envelope.” Id. The Indiana Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s rejection of that argument with the above-quoted language. That language seems to us to state the only reasonable view of the law.

The Supreme Court of Louisiana reached the same result in State v. Watson, 416 So.2d 919 (La.1982). Like Smith in the present case, the suspect in Watson had given consent to search her suitcase. When confronted by Narcotics Interdiction investigators at the New Orleans Airport, the searching officers in that case, as in this, found within the luggage a closed paper bag, which they opened and found to contain illegal narcotics. In Watson, the suspect had consented to a search for identification, whereas Smith consented to a search overtly directed toward drugs. This obviously makes no difference. The Louisiana Supreme Court observed that “any identification was as likely to be in the paper bag as anywhere else in the suitcase” and that “there was no reason for the police to believe that the consent to search the suitcase did not extend to the paper package inside.” Id. at 921. In the present case, the narcotics were at least as likely to be in the paper bag as anywhere else in the tote bag and the officers had no reason to believe that the consent to search the tote bag did not also extend to the paper bag inside.

We therefore hold that valid consent, un-withdrawn, to search a container, extends to a search of other containers found therein, at least where the inner container is such that it could contain the object of the search. A paper bag within a suitcase is as likely to contain drugs as the luggage itself. Therefore, we find Smith’s contentions to be without merit and affirm the decision of the District Court.