Pascual Renteria-Medina v. United States

346 F.2d 853, 1965 U.S. App. LEXIS 5266
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJune 14, 1965
Docket19478_1
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 346 F.2d 853 (Pascual Renteria-Medina v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pascual Renteria-Medina v. United States, 346 F.2d 853, 1965 U.S. App. LEXIS 5266 (9th Cir. 1965).

Opinions

BOWEN, District Judge.

Appellant Pascual Renteria-Medina (hereinafter called Renteria or appellant) appeals from the jury’s conviction and the Trial Court’s judgment and five-year sentence of him on each of Counts 2 and 3 of the three-Count indictment charging appellant and his co-defendant (herein referred to as Felix) in Count 2 with smuggling into this country, and in Count 3 with knowingly receiving, concealing and facilitating the transportation and concealment of, approximately one ounce of heroin, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. § 174, with concurrent execution of the two sentences. Count 1 of the same indictment charging appellant with aiding and abetting his co-defendant Felix in obtaining the latter’s unlawful entry into the United States was dismissed.

The Trial Court had jurisdiction under said § 174, and under Title 18 U.S.C. § 3231. This Court has jurisdiction under Title 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 1294.

Appellant on this appeal assigns two alleged errors: (1) that the evidence [854]*854used to convict the appellant was obtained by unreasonable search and seizure, and (2) that the court misled the jury by comment and failed to properly instruct on possession.

Immigration inspectors have authority without a warrant to interrogate, search or arrest aliens in pursuance of the inspectors’ duty to detect and prevent unlawful immigration of aliens. 8 U.S.C.A. § 1357(a) and (c).

Appellant at the time of the trial was a Mexican national, then and for about four years a resident of Chula Vista, California, about five miles from Tijuana, Mexico. He had resided in this country 18 years during which time he said he had been employed principally as a truck driver, but due to his employer’s recent economy measures, his truck driving employment was terminated and then he took up the business of collecting and selling wooden boxes. During his Chula Vista residence, he had almost daily visited Tijuana, Mexico where about as often he saw and associated with his co-defendant Felix. After only a few months in that box business, he said he took a vacation and went to Central Mexico.

On January 23, 1964, while returning from his Mexican vacation, appellant happened to meet on Miguel Aleman Bridge in Mexicali, Mexico his friend Felix who joined appellant in appellant’s car, and they drove to the home of appellant’s cousins’ family in Mexicali where they had breakfast and visited. Felix accepted appellant’s invitation to return to Tijuana with appellant, and they, in appellant’s car, began that trip stopping at a gasoline filling station in Mexicali, Mexico. Felix at the trial testified for the government and stated that when he got in appellant’s car and later when they stopped at that filling station, he saw on appellant’s car seat a cigarette package or box. He said that after they left the filling station, appellant suggested that, because appellant’s car was not working very well, they, instead of going to Tijuana, drive from Mexicali, Mexico to Los Angeles, which they undertook to do. Felix further testified that they crossed the Mexican-California line; that while travelling appellant gave Felix that cigarette box and stated that it contained heroin; that later when they observed a patrol car trailing them, appellant requested Felix to put the cigarette box in his pocket which Felix did; and that from the time they left Mexico they made no stops and met no one, but drove continuously on northward until detained by the immigration inspectors at a check point, now to be more fully explained.

As an immigration roving checking unit, immigration patrol inspectors Farnan and Sweeney on said January 23d were in the course of their official duty as such inspectors working at or near an immigration check point on Highway 99 in California about 45 miles northward from the Mexican border at Mexicali. At that check point there is normally maintained a road block where northbound cars are halted and inspected by immigration inspectors, but, because of that day’s high wind and the inspectors’ fear that thereby the movable roadblock structures would be blown across the road and cause a traffic hazard, inspectors Farnan and Sweeney did not on that occasion block the highway. Instead, in order to facilitate their inspection work on that day, they in their official vehicle moved about on the highway and at times temporarily parked their vehicle so as to observe passing vehicles.

About noontime on the above stated date, the inspectors observed a northbound car passing the place where the inspectors were parked. Two men were in the car, clothing was hanging in the back section of the car, and inspector Farnan testified the car “fitted a pattern that we watch for”. The inspectors decided to question the car’s occupants respecting their citizenship, and in order to do so they drove their official vehicle after the car and by using the official vehicle’s stop flash caused that northbound car to pull over and stop by the roadside.

[855]*855Thereupon, both of the persons in that stopped car stepped out of it, walked back towards the inspectors’ vehicle, were met by and frankly talked with the inspectors, and disclosed that one of them was appellant who was the driver of the stopped car and that the other was Felix who was a passenger in it.

Felix let inspector Farnan see a folder containing several things including Felix’s 1-186 border-crossing card. The wind conditions interfered with talking outside, so Farnan invited Felix to sit in the inspectors’ patrol car. As Felix was being there questioned by inspector Farnan and while the latter was examining the contents of Felix’s folder, Farnan learned from inspector Sweeney who had been talking with the appellant that luggage belonging to Felix was in the stopped car. This led Farnan to believe that Felix might be planning to violate his immigration status by overstaying in the United States the time allowed to him as a holder of an 1-186 border-crossing card, and also to believe that Felix might be planning to seek employment while in the United States.

Pursuing that belief, Farnan continued to question Felix, and after a short time he surprised inspector Farnan by frankly stating he intended to overstay the time allowed him by his 1-186 border pass. Thereupon, Farnan told Felix he had entered intending to violate his status and that the inspectors would have to return him to Mexico. As they talked, Farnan noticed that Felix was holding in his hand a small notebook which upon Farnan’s request to see it Felix hesitatingly gave to Farnan who was looking for other documents, such as possibly a social security card or something, to show whether Felix had been working in this country and was then returning to his job here.

As Felix handed over that notebook, Farnan noticed that he was trembling, and as Farnan looked through the notebook once he observed that Felix was “near to hysteria”, and upon Farnan’s going through the notebook a second time, he saw in it a small package which he opened and found in it a powdery substance. Farnan then asked Felix if he was an addict and if that powdery substance was heroin, and Felix answered “yes” to both questions.

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Related

People v. Cummings
43 Cal. App. 3d 1008 (California Court of Appeal, 1974)
United States v. John Lee Bowen
500 F.2d 960 (Ninth Circuit, 1974)
Frank Thomas Fumagalli v. United States
429 F.2d 1011 (Ninth Circuit, 1970)
Pascual Renteria-Medina v. United States
346 F.2d 853 (Ninth Circuit, 1965)

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Bluebook (online)
346 F.2d 853, 1965 U.S. App. LEXIS 5266, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pascual-renteria-medina-v-united-states-ca9-1965.