Originally Posted by
SATTSO
Edit: and I agree with you on another matter - the decision was based almost entirely on what the TSO said. If she has said she opened the envelope to look for WEI (such as an improvised det, which is easily hid in an envelope), I believe the decision would have been in TSAs favor.
I seriously doubt the court would have given the TSA carte blanche to open an envelope simply because the TSO said he/she was searching for WEI. If the TSO in Fofana had said that was the case, my guess is the court would have run the TSO through the ringer asking if every test conceivable was done before the envelope was opened.
If all the tests had been done and nothing alarmed on that envelope, I am certain the judge would have asked why the envelope then had to be opened. If the TSO said, "that is SOP as we are looking for WEI such as an improvised det" I doubt the ruling would have been rendered any differently.