Opinion ID: 2228003
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Search of Harris' Bag

Text: When the first search of Harris' person produced no drugs, weapons, or large amounts of currency, Bratsch asked Harris if he had a bag. According to the police reports and testimony, Harris told the officers he had a bag in one of the overhead compartments. Both officers stated that Harris gave Bratsch permission to search the bag. As with the first search of Harris' person, there is nothing in the facts to support the position that the consent Harris gave to the search of his bag was anything other than voluntary. Bratsch searched Harris' bag and found miscellaneous clothing and papers. He also found two baggies, each containing 40-75 plastic bindles. Once Bratsch found the bindles in Harris' bag, Harris' situation fundamentally changed. When Bratsch pointedly confronted Harris, telling Harris that he knew that bindles are used to package drugs for sale and asking where the drugs were, Harris became fully aware that the officers knew that he might be transporting a controlled substance. Harris could not have, and a reasonable person would not have, felt free to terminate the encounter under these circumstances. Thus, it was at this point that Harris was seized.