United States v. Terrell

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED June 6, 2008 No. 07-30847 Summary Calendar Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff-Appellee v. DEMONE TERRELL Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana USDC No. 5:07-CR-50004-1 Before JOLLY, DENNIS, and PRADO, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Demone Terrell pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute MDMA, also known as Ecstasy, and was sentenced to 51 months of imprisonment. He reserved the right to appeal the district court’s denial of a motion to suppress evidence obtained through the seizure of a package at a private express shipping facility. Terrell contends that police lacked reasonable suspicion to seize the package and hold it for 20 to 30 minutes until a drug-sniffing dog arrived to * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. No. 07-30847 provide probable cause for a search. Under the totality of the circumstances, and in light of acknowledged criteria for recognizing illicit drug packages, the police had reasonable suspicion to detain the package as they did. See United States v. Van Leeuwen, 397 U.S. 249, 250-51 (1970); United States v. Daniel, 982 F.2d 146, 149-51 (5th Cir. 1993). The district court did not err by denying the motion to suppress. The judgment is AFFIRMED. 2