United States v. Chavira

811 F. Supp. 628, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1061, 1993 WL 21184
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedJanuary 29, 1993
DocketCrim. No. 92-313 JP
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 811 F. Supp. 628 (United States v. Chavira) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Chavira, 811 F. Supp. 628, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1061, 1993 WL 21184 (D.N.M. 1993).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

PARKER, District Judge.

The subject of this memorandum opinion and order is defendant’s motion, filed August 5, 1992, to suppress. At a December 2, 1992 hearing, I requested supplemental memoranda from both the plaintiff and the defendant discussing whether a Border Patrol agent working a primary inspection area at a permanent border checkpoint may, after asking all questions the agent intended to ask about citizenship and without any suspicious circumstances whatsoever, continue to detain an individual for additional questioning on matters unrelated to citizenship. After careful consideration of the facts and law, I have determined that any additional detention for questioning on matters unrelated to immigration status must be based on at least some “suspicious circumstances.” Therefore, under the facts of this case, defendant’s motion to suppress should be granted.

On June 7, 1992, United States Border Patrol Agent Robles was in the primary inspection area at the permanent border checkpoint on Highway 54 south of Alamogordo, New Mexico. At 8:18 a.m., defendant, who was alone and driving a brown Ford Maverick, entered the primary inspection area of the checkpoint. No other vehicles were present at the checkpoint when defendant arrived and there was no evidence that other vehicles entered the checkpoint while defendant’s vehicle was in the primary inspection lane.

Agent Robles asked defendant, in English, whether he was a United States citizen and defendant responded, in English, that he was. Agent Robles testified that he had absolutely no suspicion surrounding defendant at this point. Agent Robles expressed no reason to doubt the truth of defendant’s answer. However, Agent Robles proceeded to ask defendant where he was going to which defendant responded that he was en route to Oklahoma to buy some vehicles. At first, Agent Robles testified that he could not state a reason why he asked the defendant this second question. After further questioning by the Assistant United States attorney, Agent Robles adopted the attorney’s suggestion that he asked the second question in order to have a chance to listen further to defendant’s ability to speak English. I believe the agent’s initial answer — that he really did not know why he asked defendant’s destination — is the more credible testimony and I find as a fact that the agent truly did not know why he asked the question. Defendant’s response that he was going to Oklahoma to buy vehicles aroused Agent Robles’ suspicion since defendant’s car did not appear to be heavily loaded with a tow bar, as was normal, in Agent Robles’ experience, for travelers going to another state to purchase vehicles.

Thus, after the second question and answer, which resulted in an additional detention of only a few seconds, Agent Robles’ [630]*630suspicions were aroused and he proceeded with the interrogation. After a few more questions, Agent Robles obtained defendant’s consent to have a dog trained to detect narcotics sniff his vehicle and Agent Robles referred defendant to the secondary inspection area. Marijuana and cocaine were subsequently found in defendant’s car.

Although the government has presented a strong argument that, because of the brevity of the detention, the agent acted reasonably and not in violation of the Fourth Amendment, I conclude that after asking all questions intended to be asked about citizenship and in the absence of any suspicious circumstances whatsoever, an agent at the primary inspection area of a permanent checkpoint may not detain an individual further, even very briefly, to ask an additional question which is unrelated to immigration status. Although the Tenth Circuit law on the level of suspicion needed at a permanent checkpoint in order to. conduct further investigation is rather unclear, the facts in each of the recent checkpoint cases indicate that the agent observed suspicious circumstances before proceeding to ask questions unrelated to immigration matters.

Beginning with United States v. Espinosa, 782 F.2d 888, 891 (10th Cir.1986), the Tenth Circuit cited United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873, 881-882, 95 S.Ct. 2574, 2580, 45 L.Ed.2d 607 (1975) for the following proposition:

The border agent may question the driver and passengers about their citizenship and immigration status, and ask them to explain suspicious circumstances. Any further detention must be based on consent or probable cause.

In Espinosa, the agent’s questioning of defendant and his passenger about their citizenship and immigration status lasted no more than two minutes, during which time, the agent noticed that they hesitated and looked at each other before answering questions. Moreover, defendant’s car had only a temporary Florida license plate in the back window. Thus, the agent’s suspicions were aroused during the initial detention when citizenship and immigration status were being investigated. The further detention was justified by the suspicious circumstances which came to the agent’s attention during the legal initial detention.

The Fourth Amendment does not require police officers to close their eyes to suspicious circumstances. Agent Teuber’s inquiry about drugs accounted for but a moment of defendant’s brief detention and was based upon specific and articulable facts and rational inferences.

United States v. Espinosa, 782 F.2d at 891. Thus, because a “brief stop of a suspicious individual,” Hayes v. Florida, 470 U.S. 811, 817, 105 S.Ct. 1643, 1647, 84 L.Ed.2d 705 (1985), does not violate the Fourth Amendment, Espinosa held that “defendant’s stop and initial brief detention at the checkpoint were proper and lawful.” United States v. Espinosa, 782 F.2d at 891.

United States v. Johnson, 895 F.2d 693, 696 (10th Cir.1990) reaffirmed the holding in Espinosa that “[bjorder patrol agents may question the occupants of a vehicle about their citizenship and to explain suspicious circumstances.” In Johnson, the agent testified that when defendant and his passenger pulled into the checkpoint at 11:35 p.m. in a 1987 Fiero, he questioned them about their citizenship and while they were answering, the agent detected the smell of alcohol. The agent also testified that he believed the car may have been stolen since the occupants’ appearances were not consistent with the vehicle. Thus, during the initial questioning concerning citizenship, the agent noticed suspicious circumstances which lead him to ask further questions. Since “the Fourth Amendment does not requires police officers to close their eyes to suspicious circumstances,” United States v. Johnson, 895 F.2d at 696 (quoting United States v. Espinosa, 782 F.2d at 891), the court held that the further detention of the defendant was constitutional.

In United States v. Benitez, 899 F.2d 995 (10th Cir.1990), when the defendant and his wife pulled into the permanent checkpoint, a border patrol agent ques[631]

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Related

United States v. Martin Steve Chavira
9 F.3d 888 (Tenth Circuit, 1993)
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13 F.3d 407 (Tenth Circuit, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
811 F. Supp. 628, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1061, 1993 WL 21184, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-chavira-nmd-1993.