U.S. v. Bates, 75-2321
Decision Date | 26 March 1976 |
Docket Number | No. 75-2321,75-2321 |
Citation | 533 F.2d 466 |
Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Dennis James BATES, Defendant-Appellee. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Before CARTER, WRIGHT and GOODWIN, Circuit Judges.
The government appeals an order granting defendant Bates' motion to suppress evidence, claiming the evidence was obtained pursuant to a valid border search and upon probable cause to arrest Bates and search his vehicle. We reverse the granting of the motion because we find the officers acted upon probable cause to arrest and search.
The facts are not disputed. On the night of January 21, 1975, a customs officer watching the border observed a car drive into a deserted parking lot at Rancho La Puerta, a warehouse located in California about a quarter-mile from the Mexican border. The officer knew that the customary method of smuggling in this area involved leaving contraband at the warehouse for later pick-up and transportation further into the United States.
The officer broadcast a description of the car when it left the parking lot 30 seconds later. It was then spotted by a second officer who learned via radio that the car was a rental from San Diego. This second officer followed the car which eventually headed east, but lost track of it and radioed back to the first officer that the car had apparently made a U-turn.
Subsequently, the car returned to the parking lot of the Rancho La Puerta where it turned off its lights for two minutes. It then left the warehouse again, this time heading west. A third officer who had been in radio contact with the first two, followed the car and eventually stopped it. As he approached the vehicle, he noticed two handprints in the dust on the trunk lid. Bates was identified as the driver of the car and stated that he had just been driving around. The officer asked Bates to open the trunk of the car, but after trying to open it, Bates said that he did not have the key. The officer further inquired about the ownership of the car and Bates replied that it belonged to a friend who had loaned him the car that evening.
The second officer who had followed Bates the first time he left the warehouse then arrived, and Bates told him that he and his passenger had decided to go to Mexico, but had twice changed their minds. This officer tried to get into the trunk through the back seat but was unsuccessful. He then ordered Bates to accompany him with his car back to the Tecate port of entry where tools were used to get into the trunk which was found to contain two burlap bags of marijuana.
The district court was not required to and did not make formal findings of fact. In reviewing his granting of the motion to suppress, we apply the standard set forth in Ker v. California, 374 U.S. 23, 33-34, 83 S.Ct. 1623, 1630, 10 L.Ed.2d 726, 738 (1963):
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