Opinion ID: 788500
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Controlled Delivery of a UPS Package on June 15, 2000

Text: 15 On June 15, 2000, federal and local law enforcement officers carried out a controlled delivery of a UPS overnight package addressed to J.B. Evans in Knoxville, Tennessee. The facts surrounding this incident derive primarily from the testimony of DEA Agent Stephen Ribolla, Knoxville Police Officer Kenneth Gilreath, and Allen Steele of UPS. Agent Ribolla received a phone call on June 14, 2000 from a California Highway Patrol officer, and learned that a drug-sniffing dog had alerted to a UPS overnight package being shipped out of the Los Angeles International Airport to Knoxville. Agent Ribolla contacted Allen Steele, a security representative at UPS in Knoxville, and advised him that the box would be arriving at his facility the following morning. 16 Steele testified that he informed Agent Ribolla, pursuant to UPS policy, that a warrant or subpoena was necessary before the company would relinquish the package. As Ribolla prepared to obtain a warrant, Steele opened the package himself, again in accordance with UPS policy, and discovered what he believed to be marijuana. 7 Based on this information, Ribolla took the package, notified the Knoxville police, and began preparations for a controlled delivery at the package's delivery address, a Mailboxes, Etc. store located on Cedar Bluff Road in Knoxville. 8 17 Agent Ribolla, Knoxville Police Officer Gilreath, and other officers traveled to this location on the morning of June 15, 2000 and waited for someone to claim the overnight package. At around 10:00 a.m., a white Toyota Camry with two occupants arrived at the store, and an individual emerged from the passenger side of the car, picked up the package, and returned to the vehicle. As the Camry left the scene, Agent Ribolla, Officer Gilreath, and another Knoxville police officer followed in a police van. 18 A short time later, following a U-turn, the Camry's driver evidently realized that he was being followed and a high-speed chase ensued, ending when the Camry drove through a residential yard and into a creek embankment. Two men jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the woods. Officer Gilreath was able to catch the car's passenger, who initially identified himself as Paul Bails, but later gave the name of James Evans. Through fingerprints, this individual eventually was identified as Daniel McGill. The vehicle's driver evaded capture. 19 Upon searching the Camry, Agent Ribolla and the Knoxville police officers found two boxes in the trunk: the package used in the controlled delivery, and another package picked up a short time earlier from a different Mailboxes, Etc. store located on Morrell Road in Knoxville. 9 Both boxes contained large blocks of compressed marijuana, an outer wrapper coated in a mustard-like substance, and additional saran wrap. An investigation revealed that the Camry had been rented by Derrick Palmer, an alias used by Defendant Robinson. Although Agent Ribolla initially suspected that Robinson was the driver of the vehicle, he later determined, and McGill confirmed at trial, that the driver was William Barnes. 10 20