U.S. v. Radford

In prosecution on drug distribution charge arising out of seizure of drugs stemming from defendant’s encounter with police officer on train traveling to Ohio. Record showed that officer, who suspected that defendant might be carrying drugs based only on her last-minute purchase of one-way ticket, her travel itinerary to drug source location and prior arrest, initially asked defendant series of “security” questions while standing outside of defendant’s roomette on train and then asked defendant to search her bags to confirm her answers. Moreover, Dist. Ct. could properly find that defendant’s response of “I guess so. You’re just doing your job” constituted valid consent to search her bags that precluded any 4^th Amendment claim. Fact that officer did not inform defendant that she could deny his request to search her bags or fact that defendant was black and officer was white did not render said consent improperly coercive. Also, officer could pose instant questions without having any suspicion of wrongdoing, where defendant’s consent was not induced by coercive means.