Shenandoah Rachel Morales v. United States

Appellant was convicted of importation and concealing of heroin and cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 173 and 174 on the basis of narcotics secured as the result of a border search of her vagina. She has taken this appeal from judgment. The question is whether, under the circumstances of this case, the search was reasonable. We conclude that it was not and that appellant’s motion to suppress the heroin should have been granted.

The preliminary search of appellant’s person was made by a woman customs clerk. Appellant was made to disrobe. She was made to bend over and expose her vaginal area. Something “sort of like a bubble” as observed protruding from the vagina. She was then taken to a physician who, from examination of her eyes and limbs, found no indication that she was under the influence of narcotics or had been a user. The vaginal search followed, revealing three packets of heroin and one of cocaine.

Rivas v. United States, supra, footnote 1, recognizes that to justify a border search of body cavities there must be a “clear indication” or “plain suggestion” that narcotics are being smuggled. Henderson v. United States, supra, footnote 1, makes it clear that when the…