Opinion ID: 4245186
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Intrusiveness Claim.

Text: Rasberry makes a final argument: that the search of his undershorts was overly invasive and degrading and, thus, abridged his Fourth Amendment rights. Because this argument is raised for the first time on appeal, our review is for plain error. See United States v. Madsen, 809 F.3d 712, 717 (1st Cir. 2016). Plain error is plainly absent here. The reasonableness of an invasive search depends on whether the totality of the circumstances justifies the degree of the intrusion. See Spencer v. Roche, 659 F.3d 142, 146 (1st Cir. 2011); Cofield, 391 F.3d at 336. To justify a search of a particularly intimate area, an officer must, at a minimum, have reasonable suspicion that the person detained is hiding contraband there. See United States v. Barnes, 506 F.3d 58, 62 (1st Cir. 2007). Wolf — having just encountered a suspicious object near Rasberry's groin — had excellent reason to think that Rasberry had contraband hidden in his undershorts. Although extracting the softball-sized object was, in Wolf's phrase, awkward, there is no evidence that the extraction was conducted in a needlessly degrading or humiliating fashion. - 17 - Cf. Swain v. Spinney, 117 F.3d 1, 6 (1st Cir. 1997) (finding strip search of female detainee in front of male officers unconstitutional). Wolf and Rasberry were of the same gender and Wolf withdrew the softball-sized object in the privacy of a motel room, allowing Rasberry to remain clothed as he did so. It was Rasberry's decision to hide contraband in such an intimate location, and the seizure was performed in a reasonable manner. No more was exigible to keep Rasberry's Fourth Amendment rights inviolate.