Please explain how signing for a controlled delivery is in any way incriminating.

Seriously, an innocent person who has not ordered anything illegal 99 times out of 100 will just sign for an unexpected package and then open it and find out what is inside.

Would you seriously be all "Oh no, I didn't order anything and won't sign for anything I didn't order" if you never ordered anything illegal.? That reaction would be far more likely from someone who HAS ordered drugs.

How does the fact that a letter is sent by recorded delivery alter the fact that anyone can send anything to anybody in the post?


Comments


[14 Points] None:

[deleted]


[1 Points] Reposl:

As is frequently mentioned on these things, LE doesn't need you to sign, it's just easier for them if you do.

If they're at the point of making a controlled delivery, they already have a pretty good case that they are just trying to turn into a slam dunk by having you accept it.

Now, if some rich, DNM-friendly individual wanted to start mailing grams of weed to 100s of random addresses, maybe that would change public opinion regarding the guilt inherent in having drugs in your mailbox. But until then, no one is going to be saved by claiming they didn't order anything.


[1 Points] NotFromReddit:

Does signing for the package actually make you guilty, or does it just give them a reason for a warrant?


[1 Points] Indica_HeXeN:

Just sign a scribble, the shipping people don't care, they just need confirmation that someone received the delivery


[0 Points] TeslaBenzo:

Your statement although correct does not help the person receiving the package innocent or guilty. Current United States Laws/NSA/Government do not care what is normal behavior. They care about what they can document and use as evidence to prosecute individuals. Their bottom line is to put convictions on the books. they don't give a shit about individuals.


[0 Points] None:

There is a thing called an anticipatory warrant. This is a search warrant that is conditional on a "triggering condition." Read more about it here:

http://www.policemag.com/channel/patrol/articles/2006/06/point-of-law.aspx

In short, the reason that signing for a CD is important is because the anticipatory warrant specifically says that the warrant is only valid once you sign for the package and take it into your home. That's it. If those things happen, the cops get to search your house without your consent. If those things don't happen, the warrant is not valid and they don't get to search you.

All of the other arguments you might make about whether signing is incriminating or not... they got made in U.S. v. Grubbs and if you would like to challenge or elaborate on them, your lawyer is welcome to do so when you end up in court. Good luck to you! Grubbs went all the way to the Supreme Court, so your name may be famous!

It's important to keep in mind that "signing and taking possession" were the triggering conditions in Grubbs, but they may or may not be the triggering conditions in every case. Cops can write a warrant however they want, if they can get a judge to sign off on it and are willing to try to make it stand up in court. Therefore, it is possible that cops have an unconditional warrant to search your house, and they only want your signature as additional incrimination. You never know.

EDIT: This information valid only in the U.S.


[0 Points] RosyPalm:

I'll give it one last shot...

One of the most important things LE needs to do when conducting a CD is maintain control of that package. If that package is touched or moved there is a signed record of it. There is a chain of evidence from the sorting room to your front porch, and another chain from LE seizing the package in your living room to the court room. The magical piece that connects those two chains into one unbroken one is the Confirmation of Delivery form with your signature on it.

If that isn't in your case file, then your case file isn't going anyplace. With it, the CD will be upheld as valid forever. Without it, the CD is in trouble if it's challenged. If LE losses the CD then they had no legal right to be inside your residence and everything they found gets thrown away. The signature isn't an optional piece. It's part of the template everyone uses to assemble a 100% air tight case file that will be upheld to the Supreme Court level.

The signature is so integral that if you don't sign, they will NEVER give you the package.

Establishing possession isn't to charge you with anything. It's to give LE a legal pretext to enter your dwelling when they ordinarily would not be able too. Any charges will stem from what LE finds, or you admit to, once they get over your threshold.