United States v. Manuel Rodriguez-Arreola

270 F.3d 611, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 28024, 2001 WL 1204673
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedOctober 12, 2001
Docket01-1034
StatusPublished
Cited by53 cases

This text of 270 F.3d 611 (United States v. Manuel Rodriguez-Arreola) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Manuel Rodriguez-Arreola, 270 F.3d 611, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 28024, 2001 WL 1204673 (8th Cir. 2001).

Opinions

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge.

During the routine stop of a vehicle for speeding, a South Dakota highway patrol officer discovered that Manuel Rodriguez-Arreola, a passenger in the vehicle, was an illegal alien. Rodriguez was detained and later charged under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) (Supp. IV 1998) with being an illegal alien present in the United States after deportation.2 Rodriguez filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained during the traffic stop, arguing that his status as an illegal alien was discovered through questioning that violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The District Court granted Rodriguez’s motion to suppress and the government appeals. We reverse.

I.

While traveling west on 1-90, South Dakota Highway Patrol Officer Christopher Koltz noticed a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction. His radar recorded the vehicle’s speed at eighty-six miles per hour — eleven miles per hour in excess of the posted speed limit. Trooper Koltz then crossed the interstate median and accelerated in order to overtake and stop the speeding vehicle.

Trooper Koltz activated a video recording system before exiting his patrol car, and all events and conversations during the stop were recorded. He approached the stopped vehicle and requested that the driver, Estaban Molina, provide his license and registration. He informed Molina that he had been stopped for speeding and instructed him to step out of the vehicle and to take a seat in the front of his patrol car. Trooper Koltz showed Molina the speed that the radar had recorded and informed Molina that he was going to issue him a ticket. While preparing the ticket, Trooper Koltz asked Molina a variety of general questions, after which he asked Molina whether he was a United States citizen or a resident alien. Molina first answered that he was neither a United States citizen nor a resident alien. In order to confirm Molina’s admission that he was an illegal alien, Trooper Koltz asked Molina whether he had a green card. After a somewhat confusing conversation between Molina and Trooper Koltz, Molina was able to convey that he was a legal alien but that he had left his green card at home. Trooper Koltz then asked Molina whether his passenger was a legal alien and had a green card. Molina answered no.3

Trooper Koltz finished writing the ticket and had Molina sign it. He told Molina that he was going to run a check of his [614]*614license over the radio and that while waiting on the results, he would walk his dog around the car to make sure there were no drugs.4 Trooper Koltz instructed Molina to step out of his patrol car and had him stand on the shoulder of the road. Trooper Koltz proceeded to the vehicle and motioned for Rodriguez, the only passenger in the vehicle, to exit. After Rodriguez exited the vehicle, Trooper Koltz asked him whether he was a legal resident. He answered no.5 Trooper Koltz further inquired as to whether Rodriguez possessed a green card. In response, Rodriguez produced only a Washington State identification card with his name on it, but not a green card.6 See United States v. Rodriguez-Arreola, No. CR 00-40071, at 17 (D.S.D. Nov. 6, 2000) (transcript of motion hearing).

Trooper Koltz then had Rodriguez join Molina on the shoulder of the road so that he could use his canine to search the vehicle. After his search of the vehicle failed to discover any drugs,7 Trooper Koltz put his canine back in the patrol car and proceeded to perform a radio check on Rodriguez. Through dispatch, he also contacted an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) agent to assist in an investigation of the immigration status of Molina and Rodriguez, whom he suspected to be illegal aliens due to their responses. After providing the INS agent with the full names of Molina and Rodriguez, the agent asked Trooper Koltz follow-up questions regarding Rodriguez. Due to his inability to converse with Rodriguez in Spanish, Trooper Koltz allowed the INS agent to talk directly with Rodriguez. Following his check of the identities of Molina and Rodriguez, the INS agent informed Trooper Koltz that while Molina was a legal alien, Rodriguez was not. After the radio check on Molina failed to disclose any outstanding warrants, Trooper Koltz gave Molina the speeding ticket and allowed him to go. At the request of the INS, Trooper Koltz placed Rodriguez into custody and took him to the nearest jail facility [615]*615for processing by the INS. Viewing the immigration detention as part of an administrative procedure, neither the INS nor Trooper Koltz informed Rodriguez of his Miranda rights during the traffic stop.8

Prior to trial, Rodriguez moved to suppress “all evidence and statements obtained” during the traffic stop, particularly evidence and statements pertaining to his identity. United States v. Rodriguez-Arreola, No. CR00-40071 (D.S.D. Oct. 24, 2000) (Motion to Suppress). He argued that the evidence and statements were obtained through an illegal search and seizure that violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The Magistrate Judge held a hearing and subsequently recommended that the District Court grant Rodriguez’s motion. See United States v. Rodriguez-Arreola, No. CR 00-40071, at 19 (D.S.D. Nov. 21, 2000) (Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation). The District Court adopted the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation and granted the motion to suppress based on its conclusion that Rodriguez’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated. The government filed an interlocutory appeal challenging the ruling pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3731 (1994).

We review the District Court’s findings of fact for clear error. United States v. Stephenson, 924 F.2d 753, 758 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 813, 112 S.Ct. 63, 116 L.Ed.2d 39 (1991). We review de novo, however, the District Court’s ultimate legal conclusions drawn from the facts. United States v. Tavares, 223 F.3d 911, 914 (8th Cir.2000). We will not reverse the District Court’s decision regarding a motion to suppress “unless it is not supported by substantial evidence on the record; it reflects an erroneous view of the applicable law; or upon review of the entire record, the appellate court is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made.” United States v. Layne, 973 F.2d 1417, 1420 (8th Cir.1992), cert, denied, 506 U.S. 1066, 113 S.Ct. 1011, 122 L.Ed.2d 160 (1993).

II.

Initially we note that two aspects of the stop are not in dispute. First, Rodriguez does not argue that the initial stop of the vehicle for speeding was improper. Second, the government does not challenge the suppression of the incriminating statements Rodriguez made during his telephone conversation with the INS agent from Trooper Koltz’s patrol car.9 The District Court’s suppression of all other evidence obtained during the stop appears to be in dispute.

The government argues that Trooper Koltz did not violate the Fourth Amendment rights of Rodriguez.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Wali Ebbin Rashee Ross
963 F.3d 1056 (Eleventh Circuit, 2020)
State of Maine v. Feliciano
Maine Superior, 2019
United States v. Ortiz
347 F. Supp. 3d 402 (U.S. District Court, 2018)
United States v. Courtney Noble
762 F.3d 509 (Sixth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Dukes
758 F.3d 932 (Eighth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Carlton Hightower
716 F.3d 1117 (Eighth Circuit, 2013)
United States v. Roberto Rodriguez
711 F.3d 928 (Eighth Circuit, 2013)
United States v. Foster
763 F. Supp. 2d 1086 (D. Minnesota, 2011)
United States v. Reyes Ibarra
397 F. App'x 285 (Eighth Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Ochoa-Gonzalez
598 F.3d 1033 (Eighth Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Fajardo-Fajardo
594 F.3d 1005 (Eighth Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Peter Bourrage
358 F. App'x 776 (Eighth Circuit, 2010)
State v. Maldonado-Arreaga
772 N.W.2d 74 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2009)
United States v. Allison
637 F. Supp. 2d 657 (S.D. Iowa, 2009)
United States v. Suitt
569 F.3d 867 (Eighth Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Michael Suitt
Eighth Circuit, 2009
United States v. James Gilliam
Eighth Circuit, 2008
United States v. Gilliam
520 F.3d 844 (Eighth Circuit, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
270 F.3d 611, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 28024, 2001 WL 1204673, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-manuel-rodriguez-arreola-ca8-2001.