United States v. Valenzuela-Espinoza

697 F.3d 742, 2012 WL 4703479
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedDecember 28, 2011
DocketNo. 10-10060
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 697 F.3d 742 (United States v. Valenzuela-Espinoza) 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
United States v. Valenzuela-Espinoza, 697 F.3d 742, 2012 WL 4703479 (9th Cir. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER

This court’s opinion, filed December 28, 2011 [664 F.3d 1265], is amended by striking the words “United States v.” before “Liera ” on page 21390 [664 F.3d at 1271-72] of the slip opinion, replacing “1237,” with “at” in the same line, and striking the words “(9th Cir. 2009)” in the following line. It is further amended by replacing the word “constitutional” with “longstanding” before the word “principle” on page 21392 [664 F.3d at 1272-73]; by replacing the word “two” with “three” after the word “identified” on page 21392 [664 F.3d at 1272-73]; and by striking “Here, the” on that page and inserting the following passage before the words “district court”:

< Finally, delays necessary to determine “whether [a suspect] should be criminally charged” are also reasonable. Garcia-Hernandez, 569 F.3d at 1106; see also Gamez, 301 F.3d at 1143 (explaining that delay was reasonable where it “was impossible to determine with what kind of offense Gamez would be charged” prior to questioning by Spanish-speaking agents).

The delay in presenting Valenzuela-Espinoza does not fall into any of these categories and was not reasonable. First, there is no suggestion that the delay was for humanitarian reasons.

Second, there were plenty of law enforcement personnel available to complete Valenzuela-Espinoza’s arraignment. The>

The opinion is further amended by striking the words “create a” on page 21393 [664 F.3d at 1273] and replacing them with “make the delay” and by striking the word “delay” in the same line, before the word “under.”

Following the words “under McNabb-Mallory ” on that page, but before section C., the opinion is amended by inserting the following passage:

< Third, the record demonstrates that it was not necessary to conduct any further [745]*745investigation to determine whether Valenzuela-Espinoza could be criminally charged. In its petition for rehearing, the government asserts that Valenzuela-Espinoza was arrested only for being in the United States illegally, and that until the search warrant was executed it could not be determined if he would be charged with a criminal drug offense or merely turned over to immigration authorities.

As a preliminary matter, the government did not raise this argument in its initial briefing before this court, and its “failure to brief the issue results in waiver.” United States v. Ewing, 638 F.3d 1226, 1230 (9th Cir.2011). But in any event, this argument is not supported by the record. The government consistently asserted in its pleadings before the district court that after Valenzuela-Espinoza exited the carport in “a cloud of marijuana smoke” and told the officers that there was more than ten pounds of marijuana inside the house, the government “had probable cause to detain the defendant for a criminal offense, possession of marijuana.” The government maintained that when Agent Van Holsbeke smelled and saw the marijuana smoke, he not only had probable cause to believe that there was marijuana inside the house “but was witnessing a crime being committed in his presence.” The district court accepted these arguments, expressly finding that “[ajlthough Defendant Valenzuela-Espinoza was initially arrested because of his presence in the United States illegally, probable cause also existed regarding his involvement in criminal activity.” There is simply nothing in the record to support the claim that the officers needed to execute the search warrant to determine whether they could charge Valenzuela-Espinoza with possession of marijuana. >

The opinion is also amended by striking section III.C. in its entirety. Finally, the first sentence in section IV, on page 21395 [664 F.3d at 1274-75], is struck as well. That section now begins with the words “Rule 5(a).”

With the opinion as amended, the Appellee’s petition for panel rehearing and petition for rehearing en banc, filed April 10, 2012, is denied. The full court has been advised of the petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc and no judge has requested a vote on whether to rehear the matter en banc. See Fed. R.App. P. 35. No subsequent petitions for rehearing, rehearing en banc, or rehearing before the full court may be filed.

B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge:

OPINION

Julio Alfonso Valenzuela-Espinoza appeals his conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846. Because the delay in presenting Valenzuela-Espinoza to a magistrate was unreasonable, his statements made more than six hours after his arrest must be suppressed under the rule announced in both McNabb v. United States, 318 U.S. 332, 63 S.Ct. 608, 87 L.Ed. 819 (1943), and Mallory v. United States, 354 U.S. 449, 77 S.Ct. 1356, 1 L.Ed.2d 1479 (1957). We therefore REVERSE the district court’s denial of Valenzuela-Espinoza’s suppression motion, VACATE the conviction, and REMAND for further proceedings. Because his conviction must be vacated due to the McN'abb-Mallory violation, we do not address Valenzuela-Espinoza’s other challenges to his conviction raised on appeal.

I.

Valenzuela-Espinoza was arrested on March 5, 2008, at a house in Tucson, Ari[746]*746zona. On March B, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agent Leon Van Holsbeke received a tip from a confidential informant of “suspicious activity” taking place at the house. After intermittently observing the house on March 4 and the morning of March 5, Agent Van Holsbeke decided to conduct what he described as a “knock and talk.” Agent Van Holsbeke, along with two other officers and a narcotics detection dog, approached the front door while two officers positioned themselves around the back perimeter of the property. Four additional officers waited down the street.

Before Agent Van Holsbeke reached the front door, however, he heard someone shouting, “Stop, police, stop,” and he ran to the side of the residence to investigate. The two officers positioned behind the house had stopped two men attempting to leave the house through the back door. The officers told Agent Van Holsbeke that another man — who turned out to be the defendant, Valenzuela-Espinoza — had tried to run from the residence, but had run back inside when the police shouted.

Agent Van Holsbeke returned to the front of the residence and began walking toward the carport when he smelled burning marijuana. He approached a storage room at the back of the carport, knocked, and announced himself as police. Valenzuela-Espinoza opened the door and complied with Agent Van Holsbeke’s direction to step out of the room. Agent Van Holsbeke asked him if he lived at the residence; if he was a U.S. citizen (because Valenzuela-Espinoza apparently spoke no English); and if he was in the United States illegally.

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Bluebook (online)
697 F.3d 742, 2012 WL 4703479, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-valenzuela-espinoza-ca9-2011.