United States v. Coleman England, Jr.

Appellant Coleman England, Jr. was convicted of federal narcotics violations after cocaine was discovered in two packages he deposited for mailing with the United States Postal Service. He moved to suppress evidence of the cocaine, contending the detention of his packages prior to their inspection constituted an unreasonable sei zure under the fourth amendment. England appeals the district court’s denial of this motion. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

FACTS

England deposited two packages in the United States mail for Express Mail delivery from Los Angeles, California to Birmingham, Alabama. The first package was mailed in October 1988. The second was mailed from a different postal station approximately ten months later. Postal inspectors at each station suspected England’s packages contained narcotics.

England’s first package was set aside and presented to a trained narcotics-sniffing dog. The dog alerted positively to the presence of narcotics. The package was then sent on its regularly scheduled flight to Alabama — the same flight it would have been on had no detention occurred. Pursuant to a valid search warrant, federal agents in Alabama opened…