United States v. Sylvia L. Mendenhall and David A. Camacho

596 F.2d 706, 1979 U.S. App. LEXIS 15611

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Decided: April 6, 1979
• Docket: 78-5064, 78-5081
• Status: Published

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

On petition filed by the United States, this court, on January 12, 1979, vacated the decisions in No. 78-5064, United States v. Sylvia L. Mendenhall, and No. 78-5081, United States v. David A. Camacho, and scheduled arguments on both before the court en banc. The cases have now been briefed and orally argued before the full court.

On careful review of the records, and the authorities cited to us in the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals, we now conclude that the panel decisions in both Mendenhall and Camacho should be and are hereby reinstated.

Our review of the facts in both of these cases convinces the majority of this court that in neither case was there valid consent to search within the meaning of United States v. McCaleb, 552 F.2d 717 (6th Cir. 1977). We also hold that the so-called drug courier profile does not, in itself, represent a legal standard of probable cause in this Circuit. We recognize, of course, that the drug enforcement agency’s employment of this profile in educating its officers as to what conduct to look for in relation to drug couriers is a perfectly valid law enforcement device.

Examination of these records and re-examination of precedent in these airport drug search cases in this and other Appellate Courts have led to our decision not to attempt to formulate definitive rules. Despite some general similarities, every single case differs from every other in material degree.

In view of our en banc decision set forth above, we now reverse our preceding denial of bail to Mendenhall and Camacho and remand these cases to the District Court for determination of an appropriate bond pending petitions for writ of certiorari.