D.N.M.: Abandonment of suitcase followed nonconsensual and unreasonable detention; suppressed

This is another Albuquerque bus station luggage sweep. The officers did not manipulate the baggage; they just opened the container and looked at them. Defendant’s detention was not by consent, and that Fourth Amendment violation led to her abandonment. “The Court considers the totality of the circumstances in the encounter between SA Perry and Ms. Easley and finds that a person in Ms. Easley’s position would not have felt free to terminate the encounter and that, accordingly, Ms. Easley’s abandonment of the G-brand suitcase was involuntary and the methamphetamine obtained from the suitcase must be suppressed.” United States v. Easley, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4472 (D.N.M. Jan. 10, 2018).