Two search incidents based on containers

The district court denied suppression of the search of defendant’s backpack on him at the time of his arrest based on a 1975 case, Eatherton, post-Chimel, Robinson, and Edwards. The court finds that case was not undermined by Chadwick and Gant and even Riley. The backpack was immediately associated with him. The court admits that it is driven as much by the “law of the circuit” rationale that Eatherton is not clearly wrong after nearly 50 years of litigation. Casting aside Eatherton has to come from the court en banc or SCOTUS. Affirmed. United States v. Perez, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 34445 (1st Cir. Dec. 28, 2023) (2-1).

Defendant had standing to contest the seizure and search of a fanny pack found in his backyard where he threw it from inside. Thus, it was not within his immediate control for search incident, albeit 10′ away. No other exceptions (inventory, plain feel, inevitable discovery) apply. The protective sweep of the premises after defendant was face down and handcuffed wasn’t reasonable. They knew he had a prior for firearms, but that alone isn’t enough. There was no suggestion another person was inside. United States v. Santos, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 230459 (D.P.R. Dec. 27, 2023).