Did police illegally seize a luggage bag when they removed it from cargo area of the bus?

The Supreme Court held in United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 104 S.Ct. 1652, 80 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984), that a Fourth Amendment “`seizure’ of property occurs when there is some meaningful interference with an individual’s possessory interests in that property.” Id. at 113, 104 S.Ct. 1652. In Va Lerie, this court, en banc, applied Jacobsen in the context presented by this case-property entrusted to a third-party common carrier. Va Lerie, 424 F.3d at 701-03, 708 n. 9. Va Lerie presents similar facts, and, thus, this case turns on whether Va Lerie, in which the en banc court concluded that a seizure did not occur, id. at 708-09, is distinguishable from this case.

In Va Lerie, the en banc court determined that law enforcement’s detention of property entrusted to a third-party common carrier constitutes a Fourth Amendment seizure only when the detention does any of the following: (1) “delay[s] a passenger’s travel or significantly impact[s] the passenger’s freedom of movement,” (2) “delay[s] [the checked luggage’s] timely delivery,” or (3) “deprive[s] the carrier of its custody of the checked luggage.” Id. at 707.

Full case here: U.S. v. Alvarez-Manzo, 570 F.3d 1070 (8th Cir. 2009), https://casetext.com/case/us-v-alvarez-manzo-3