United States v. Vaatausili Mark Alaimalo

Vaatausili Mark Alaimalo (“Alaimalo”) appeals the denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition for a writ of habeas corpus. He contends that the failure of both his trial lawyer and his appellate lawyer to challenge the warrantless entry into his home as being without probable cause constituted ineffective assistance of counsel, in violation of the Sixth Amendment. Because we conclude that the officers had probable cause to believe that a package containing illegal drugs had been taken inside Alaima-lo’s home, we hold that Alaimalo did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel. We affirm the district court’s denial of Alaimalo’s habeas petition. ■

I.

Facts

Guam customs agents intercepted an express mail package containing more than 200 grams of methamphetamine when it arrived in Guam. The package was ad dressed to a Thomas Sabían at a postal box located in a private postal facility. U.S. and Guam customs agents decided to remove most of the methamphetamine, replace the drugs removed with pseudometh-amphetamine and conduct a controlled delivery of the package. When Sabían had rented the postal box, he had given 16A Salsa Street as his address. Customs agents and Guam police…