People v. Whyte

In People v. Whyte (1979) 90 Cal.App.3d 235, customs officers delivered to and left several bales of burlap containing 43 pounds of marijuana on the sidewalk in front of a bookstore where defendant had a business, at the instruction of a clerk; they departed and because defendant was delayed in picking up the bales by truck, another clerk dragged them into the bookstore several hours later whereupon customs agents went into the bookstore and arrested the first clerk; the bales were returned to the sidewalk. During the day customs officials had kept the bookstore and defendant under surveillance; defendant once entered the bookstore, parked across the street watching it and several times drove past it; finally at 11:15 p.m. they took the bales into custody without a warrant. The court rejected the People's contention that this was a customs search. The court held the intrusion to be unreasonable and concluded that "Once the bales of burlap were placed inside the bookstore, control by the customs service ended." (P. 244.) The court said "While they bales were out on the sidewalk, under the surveillance of federal agents, it conceivably could be argued that they remained in transit and under the control of the customs service. However, once the bales were placed inside the Abraxas Book Store where respondent rented space for his business, and absent exigent circumstances, a warrantless seizure and subsequent search of the bales became unreasonable under any theory. para. Clearly, they were no longer in transit or under the dominion of customs." (P. 243.)