U.S. v. Adams, 77-5398

Citation569 F.2d 924
Decision Date17 March 1978
Docket NumberNo. 77-5398,77-5398
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Chester Lee ADAMS, Defendant-Appellant. Summary Calendar. *
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Bill G. Alexander, Odessa, Tex., for defendant-appellant.

Jamie C. Boyd, U. S. Atty., Le Roy Morgan Jahn, Asst. U. S. Atty., San Antonio, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Before MORGAN, CLARK and TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

The appellant, Chester Lee Adams, was convicted in the district court for possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (1970). The sole question presented in this appeal is whether the warrantless search of appellant's vehicle that uncovered the marijuana qualifies as a border search. We find that it does and affirm.

The search took place on the morning of January 13, 1977, in the wilderness of Big Bend National Park after United States Customs officers, on a routine patrol, stopped a camper a short distance from the Rio Grande River. The stop took place on River Road, a narrow dirt and gravel road that approximately parallels the Rio Grande and intersects with several dirt roads that lead to it. The officers suspected that the camper had just crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico, probably at the nearby San Vincente Crossing where the water depth was only 2.5 to 3 feet, because the tires and fenders of the pick-up truck, on which the body of the camper rested, were splashed with fresh mud. The mud was thought by the officers to be from the river because the mud resembled that found in the river bed. Moreover, there had been no measurable rainfall in the area during the preceding thirty days, thus making it unlikely that the mud had come from someplace else.

Officer Wayne Winn, Jr., who was in charge of the patrol, identified himself to the driver of the camper and its only occupant, the appellant, and asked whether the camper had just crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico. The appellant replied that the camper had been in the river but not across it. Winn also asked appellant who owned the camper, and appellant stated that it belonged to a friend. At this point, Winn dispatched the other officers to run a license-plate check so the ownership of the vehicle could be determined.

While the other officers were gone, Winn commenced a preliminary border search of the truck and camper. In the process he observed a shoulder holster on the front seat of the pick-up, and asked the appellant whether he was armed. Appellant produced a loaded 9 mm pistol and, at Winn's direction, unloaded the pistol and placed it in a suitcase. Continuing the search, officer Winn noticed a large metal box that covered the entire bed of the pick-up truck. Appellant explained that the box was actually a tank utilized for hauling fuel oil. Two short pipes, extending upward from the rear of the tank, seemed, on inspection, to be suitable for receiving oil. But it appeared that those pipes could not be used to take oil from the tank because of the presence of metal screens welded to the bottoms of the pipes which would preclude the insertion of a nozzle or other apparatus to remove the oil. Winn was still in the process of inspecting the tank when the other officers returned to say that through the license-plate check they had identified the owner of the vehicle as Alberto Juarez of Dallas, Texas, a person...

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10 cases
  • U.S. v. Garcia
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
    • 12 Abril 1982
    ...States v. Brennan, 538 F.2d 711, 715 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1092, 97 S.Ct. 1104, 51 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977); United States v. Adams, 569 F.2d 924, 925 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 967, 99 S.Ct. 457, 58 L.Ed.2d 426 (5th Cir. 1978). Others have held that a border crossing must be......
  • U.S. v. Whitmire, 77-5359
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • 4 Junio 1979
    ...between it and the border was established with "reasonable certainty" or "a high degree of probability." See also United States v. Adams, 569 F.2d 924 (5th Cir. 1978), which applied the latter formulations to validate a nonregular search of a mud-spattered van stopped on a road closely para......
  • U.S. v. Johnson
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • 17 Enero 1979
    ...that a crossing has occurred may be inferred by the officers from circumstantial facts known to them. See, e.g., United States v. Adams, 569 F.2d 924, 925 (5th Cir. 1978) (agents could infer from fresh mud on tires and fenders of truck and lack of recent rainfall that crossing of Rio Grande......
  • U.S. v. Stone
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • 19 Octubre 1981
    ...States v. Brennan, 538 F.2d 711, 715 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 492 U.S. 1092, 97 S.Ct. 1104, 51 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977); United States v. Adams, 569 F.2d 924, 925 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 967, 99 S.Ct. 457, 58 L.Ed.2d 426 (5th Cir. 1978). Others have held that a border crossing must be......
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