Opinion ID: 456285
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Fourth Amendment Reasonableness Requirement

Text: 18 The fourth amendment requires that a valid exit border search be conducted in a reasonable manner. Des Jardins, 747 F.2d at 504-05; Duncan, 693 F.2d at 977. The scope of the search, the manner of its conduct, and the justification for its initiation must all be considered in determining whether a search is reasonable. Duncan, 693 F.2d at 977. 19 As the search of the Federal Express package was a valid extended border search, its initiation was reasonable. It follows that, as the district court held, Agent Doody's observations during the search are admissible evidence. The district court found, however, that Agent Doody's photocopies of the cashier's checks must be suppressed. We agree. When Agent Doody opened the parcel, he discovered that its contents were not subject to seizure. Nonetheless, he photocopied the cashier's checks before returning them to Federal Express for shipment. Because this seizure and detention of the checks was unjustified, it did not comport with the fourth amendment's reasonableness requirement. The district court was therefore correct in concluding that the photocopies are inadmissible. 20 Cardona contends that the district court erred in ruling that Agent Doody could testify about what he observed during his search of the package because its contents were not subject to seizure. However, evidence which is obtained by means sufficiently distinguishable from an illegal source is admissible. Segura v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 3380, 3391, 82 L.Ed.2d 599 (1984); United States v. Moreno, 758 F.2d 425, 427 (9th Cir.1985). In the present case, after Agent Doody opened the Federal Express package, he had to examine the cashier's checks with some care to determine whether they were seizable. We agree with the district court that these observations were independent from any information obtained from the illegal seizure, and that they need not be suppressed.