Shenandoah Rachel Morales v. United States

MERRILL, Circuit Judge:

Appellant was convicted of importation and concealing of heroin and cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 173 and 174 on the basis of narcotics secured as the result of a border search of her vagina. She has taken this appeal from judgment. The question is whether, under the circumstances of this case, the search was reasonable. 1 We conclude that it was not and that appellant’s motion to suppress the heroin should have been granted.

The preliminary search of appellant’s person was made by a woman customs clerk. Appellant was made to disrobe. She was made to bend over and…