U.S. v. Garcia-Beltran

• Decision Date: 06 April 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-30434.,05-30434.
• Citation: 443 F.3d 1126
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Filimon GARCIA-BELTRAN, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

443 F.3d 1126

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Filimon GARCIA-BELTRAN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 05-30434.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Submitted November 18, 2005.^*

Filed April 6, 2006.

Stephen R. Sady, Chief Deputy Federal Public Defender, and Nancy S. Bergeson, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Portland, OR, for the defendant-appellant.

Kent S. Robinson, Assistant United States Attorney, Portland, OR, for the plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon; Anna J. Brown, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-01-00336-BR.

Before: GRABER and RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges, and OTERO,^** District Judge.

OTERO, District Judge:

Defendant-appellant Filimon Garcia-Beltran appeals the district court's grant of the government's motion to require Garcia-Beltran to provide a pretrial fingerprint exemplar. The district court granted this motion after having first suppressed defendant's fingerprint exemplars taken while defendant was in custody after an arrest lacking probable cause. The decision to suppress defendant's fingerprints followed from the district court's finding that the fingerprints had been taken for both investigative and identification purposes. The district court's finding came at the direction of this court to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine the government's purpose in taking the fingerprints.

Garcia-Beltran contends that the law of the case doctrine and the rule of mandate preclude the district court from granting the motion to compel a new set of fingerprint exemplars. In addition, Garcia-Beltran asserts that, without an independent basis for fingerprinting, the evidence is subject to the exclusionary rule and, hence, cannot be used by the government at trial. We reject both arguments, and we affirm the district court's ruling on the government's motion to require Garcia-Beltran to provide a pretrial fingerprint exemplar.

I

The government charged defendant-appellant Filimon Garcia-Beltran with violating 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b)(2), illegal re-entry after deportation, and violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a), illegal reentry without inspection. Following his arraignment and plea of "Not Guilty," Garcia-Beltran filed a Motion to Suppress certain evidence; he particularly objected to the use of fingerprint exemplars that had been taken of him following his arrest. The district court denied the motion. Thereafter, Garcia-Beltran entered a conditional guilty plea for violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), thereby preserving his right to appeal.

Garcia-Beltran appealed the district court's denial of his Motion to Suppress. This court held that an evidentiary hearing was needed to determine if the fingerprints at issue in Garcia Beltran's Motion to Suppress had been taken for investigative purposes or for identification purposes. We determined that fingerprints taken solely for investigative purposes must be suppressed, while those taken for identification purposes would not be suppressed. United States v. Garcia-Beltran, 389 F.3d 864, 865 (9th Cir.2004). As a result of this court's analysis, the district court's judgment was vacated and the matter remanded for an evidentiary hearing.

As instructed by this court, the district court held an evidentiary hearing to determine the purposes for which Garcia-Beltran was fingerprinted after his arrest. We rely on the factual findings of the district court pursuant to this court's remand order for our factual narrative, reviewing for clear error. United States v. Guzman-Bruno, 27 F.3d 420, 421 (9th Cir. 1994).

The exact circumstances prior to the arrest that occurred on August 14, 2001, are largely unimportant, as the government conceded that Garcia-Beltran was arrested without probable cause. However, there are a few noteworthy background facts pertaining to the circumstances immediately following the arrest. After his arrest, Garcia-Beltran produced a Resident Alien Card and a Mexican voting card in the name of "Jose Luis Garcia-Hernandez." The arresting officer was suspicious of these documents and determined that they were forgeries. The officer issued defendant-appellant a "Uniform Criminal Citation" accusing him of "Forgery 2." After issuing this citation, the officer left Garcia-Beltran at the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC)¹ for a "mug/print." Garcia-Beltran's true identity was yet unknown at this time.

The district court found that once Garcia-Beltran was at MCDC, another Portland police officer took the first of three sets of Garcia-Beltran's fingerprints as part of the"mug/print" process. A records search that was conducted based on these fingerprints showed that defendant-appellant had previously been identified by the Portland Police Bureau as"Garcia, Filimon Beltran, DOB 112264" and by immigration authorities as "Garcia Beltran, Taurino."

Once Garcia-Beltran was so identified and while he was still at MCDC, the Portland Police Bureau contacted federal immigration officials² with a"Special Report." The Special Report stated that defendant-appellant had been identified by fingerprint comparison as being the persons named above and was being detained. The report also contained Garcia-Beltran's "A-File" number, tying him to his A-File. In response to the Special Report, immigration officials requested that a detainer be placed on Garcia-Beltran. Immigration officials also were alerted to Garcia-Beltran's previous charges of illegal entry and his deportation earlier that year.

The following day, Garcia-Beltran was fingerprinted again, this time by immigration authorities. This second set of fingerprints was compared to the fingerprint found on the Warrant of Deportation located in Garcia-Beltran's A-File. Because this second set of fingerprints was later deemed inadequate for identification purposes, Garcia-Beltran was fingerprinted yet again, for the third and final time. This set of fingerprints was compared against the fingerprint on the Warrant of Deportation, and it was found that the prints matched.

Based on these findings of fact and concessions made by the government, the district court focused on Garcia-Beltran's third set of fingerprints for the purposes of the remand order. The district court found that the third set of fingerprints had been taken in part for investigative purposes and consequently granted the Motion to Suppress as to the Third Set of Fingerprints. Garcia-Beltran then withdrew his previous conditional guilty plea. Shortly thereafter, the government submitted a Motion for Order Requiring Defendant to Provide Fingerprint Exemplar for use at trial, which the district court granted. Following this ruling, Garcia-Beltran once again entered a conditional guilty plea.

Garcia-Beltran timely appealed to this court the district court's granting of the government's motion to compel Garcia-Beltran's submission of a new set of fingerprint exemplars.

II

On appeal, Garcia-Beltran contends that the law of the case doctrine and the rule of mandate preclude the district court from ordering the new set of fingerprints, unless the government proves an independent source.

A

According to the law of the case doctrine, on remand a lower court is bound to follow the appellate court's decision as to issues "decided explicitly or by necessary implication." Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. EEOC, 691 F.2d 438, 441 (9th Cir.1982). However, the lower court is so bound only as to those issues addressed by the appellate court. See United States v. Cote, 51 F.3d 178, 181 (9th Cir.1995) (quoting Luckey v. Miller, 929 F.2d 618, 621 (11th Cir. 1991)). Hence, in applying the law of the case doctrine, the district court in the instant matter was required to follow this court's decisions, but only as to issues actually addressed and explicitly or implicitly decided upon in the court's previous disposition, Garcia-Beltran, 389 F.3d 864.

The lower court must also adhere to the rule of mandate. "The rule of mandate is similar to, but broader than, the law of the case doctrine." Cote, 51 F.3d at 181 (citing Herrington v. County of Sonoma, 12 F.3d 901, 904 (9th Cir.1993)). The rule of mandate requires a lower court to act on the mandate of an appellate court, without variance or examination, only execution. In re Sanford Fork & Tool Co., 160 U.S. 247, 255, 16 S.Ct. 291, 40 L.Ed. 414 (1895); accord Stamper v. Baskerville, 724 F.2d 1106, 1107 (4th Cir.1984). Thus, in the instant matter, the district court cannot grant the government's motion if so doing would exceed the boundaries as delineated by this court's previous mandate.

B

Garcia-Beltran's main contention in applying the law of the case doctrine and the rule of mandate is that Garcia-Beltran requires the suppression of all fingerprints (1) if the initial fingerprinting of defendant-appellant was done for investigatory purposes and (2) if the government has not proved an independent source. In support of this assertion, Garcia-Beltran finds fault with the district court's reliance on United States v. Parga-Rosas, 238 F.3d 1209 (9th Cir.2001), vis-à-vis this court's reference to the same case in its remand order. However, Garcia-Beltran's attempts to broaden the scope of the court's remand order by distinguishing Parga-Rosas from the instant matter are misguided.

In Parga-Rosas, fingerprints of an illegal alien taken immediately after an illegal arrest were suppressed while this court affirmed the district court's decision not to suppress fingerprint exemplars taken five months after the arrest. The facts in Parga-Rosas differed from those in the instant matter in that there the defendant produced a photocopy of a"green card" issued in his name when asked for identification by a law enforcement official. 238 F.3d at 1211. Using the number on the green card, law enforcement was able to locate the immigration files connecting the defendant to a prior deportation. Id. In contrast, in the instant matter Garcia-Beltran...