United States v. Richard J. Honigman

Richard Honigman appeals from a judgment of conviction of conspiracy to distribute LSD, a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and of possession with intent to distribute LSD in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). The issue on appeal is whether the district court erred in denying a motion to suppress evidence that was the product of a warrantless search. We affirm.

In Arkansas v. Sanders, 1979, 442 U.S. 753 , 99 S.Ct. 2586 , 61 L.Ed. 235 , the Court held that a warrantless search of luggage properly seized from a car trunk could not be justified under the “automobile exception” to the warrant requirement, and did not fall within any other exception to that requirement. The Court noted, however, that “[n]ot all containers and packages found by police during the course of a search will deserve the full protection of the Fourth Amendment.... There will be difficulties in determining which parcels taken from an automobile require a warrant for their search and which do not.” Id. at n.13, pp. 764-65 , 99 S.Ct. at n.13, pp. 2593-94. In his dissent, Justice Blackmun warned that the Court’s opinion left “hanging in limbo, and probably soon to be litigated ... the…