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No expectation of privacy in a box shipped to an alias

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

An ABF employee was suspicious of cardboard boxes that were too heavy for their purported contents, and he cut a hole in the box, saw another hard box inside, and smelled fabric softener. The police were called and brought a drug dog which alerted on the box. The defendant was called, and he came and picked up the box. When he did he was arrested. The box was shipped to an alias. Because defendant did not show that he was the alias, he had no expectation of privacy in the box. State v. Kalphat, 2008 Conn. LEXIS 26 (February 5, 2008).* The passenger in a stopped car was arrested for an outstanding warrant, and a search incident to a CD case found right next to him revealed ecstasy. A search of the driver found more ecstasy pills. The search of the CD case was proper under search incident under Washington law since nobody claimed control over it...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 06, 2008 (boomark / email).