United States v. Molina

S.D. Texas

United States v. Molina

700 F. Supp. 13, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13054, 1988 WL 124676

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas

DecidedMarch 7, 1988

DocketCrim. No. L-88-31

StatusPublished

This text of 700 F. Supp. 13 (United States v. Molina) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

United States v. Molina, 700 F. Supp. 13, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13054, 1988 WL 124676 (S.D. Tex. 1988).

Pincite

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

KAZEN, District Judge.

Pending is Defendant’s motion to suppress. Defendant’s vehicle was stopped by a roving Border Patrol. The Court is not satisfied from the totality of the circumstances that the officer had a reasonable basis to suspect that the Defendant was participating in criminal activity at the time of the stop.

The Defendant was operating a 1981 Buick automobile with tinted windows. The Court must reject the characterization of this vehicle as a “smuggler’s vehicle” simply because it is large enough to carry several passengers. The stop was at approximately 6:00 p.m., some 80 miles from the Mexican border. The vehicle bore a Texas license plate, registered in Mission, Texas. Reviewing the official map of Texas, it is also difficult to characterize FM 1017 as a particularly suspicious route on which a person from Mission might travel north.

The most serious factor described by the agent was the alleged erratic movements of the vehicle. However, FM 1017 is a small, 2-lane highway and again it is difficult to ascribe serious criminal activity to a vehicle which at best would sometimes slide over the left or right edges of its one lane of traffic. While this factor in combination with others could lead to a finding of reasonable suspicion, in this case it virtually stands alone and cannot support such a finding.

The motion is GRANTED.

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MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

KAZEN, District Judge.

Pending is Defendant’s motion to suppress. Defendant’s vehicle was stopped by a roving Border Patrol. The Court is not satisfied from the totality of the circumstances that the officer had a reasonable basis to suspect that the Defendant was participating in criminal activity at the time of the stop.

The Defendant was operating a 1981 Buick automobile with tinted windows. The Court must reject the characterization of this vehicle as a “smuggler’s vehicle” simply because it is large enough to carry several passengers. The stop was at approximately 6:00 p.m., some 80 miles from the Mexican border. The vehicle bore a Texas license plate, registered in Mission, Texas. Reviewing the official map of Texas, it is also difficult to characterize FM 1017 as a particularly suspicious route on which a person from Mission might travel north.

The most serious factor described by the agent was the alleged erratic movements of the vehicle. However, FM 1017 is a small, 2-lane highway and again it is difficult to ascribe serious criminal activity to a vehicle which at best would sometimes slide over the left or right edges of its one lane of traffic. While this factor in combination with others could lead to a finding of reasonable suspicion, in this case it virtually stands alone and cannot support such a finding.

The motion is GRANTED.

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Bluebook (online)

700 F. Supp. 13, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13054, 1988 WL 124676, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-molina-txsd-1988.