United States v. Amber Bear

MEMORANDUM

Amber Bear appeals from her convictions for violations of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and § 846(a)(1) after entry of a conditional guilty plea. We affirm. Because the parties are familiar with the history of this case, we need not recount it here.

The sole issue raised in this appeal is whether the district court erred in denying Bear’s motion to suppress evidence seized from a post-arrest search at a tribal detention facility. She was searched after an officer observed her on a closed-circuit monitor twice reaching into her co-defendant’s bra and pulling an object out. She was taken by female officers to a private space, where she was asked to remove her clothes, and then squat and cough. At that point, a small, white packet dropped from her body. Later testing demonstrated that the packet contained methamphetamine. A subsequent body cavity search produced a green, leafy substance, which did not form the basis of the prosecution.

Reasonable suspicion justifies the use of visual body cavity searches. Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 559-60 , 99 S.Ct. 1861 , 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979). Bear was arrested for a drug offense and was ob served to take a concealed packet from a co-defendant…