U.S. v. Torres, 76-2229

• Decision Date: 01 September 1976
• Docket Number: No. 76-2229,76-2229
• Citation: U.S. v. Torres, 537 F.2d 1299 (5th Cir. 1976)
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Adan Serna TORRES, Defendant-Appellant. Summary Calendar. *
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 1299

537 F.2d 1299

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v.Adan Serna TORRES, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 76-2229

Summary Calendar. ^*

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

Sept. 1, 1976.

Roberto J. Yzaguirre, McAllen, Tex., for defendant-appellant.

Edward B. McDonough, Jr., U. S. Atty., James R. Gough, George A. Kelt, Jr., Robert Berg, Asst. U. S. Attys., Houston, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.

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

Before AINSWORTH, CLARK and RONEY, Circuit Judges.

AINSWORTH, Circuit Judge:

Adan Serna Torres, appellant, was stopped for a citizenship check at the Border Patrol's permanent Falfurrias, Texas checkpoint on December 5, 1974.¹During the citizenship inquiry the officer detected the odor of marijuana emanating from appellant's automobile.A subsequent search revealed 198 pounds of marijuana in the trunk.

Appellant's motion to suppress the marijuana was unsuccessful, and he was found guilty.

Stopping vehicles at a permanent Border Patrol checkpoint to inquire into the occupant's citizenship does not offend the Fourth Amendment.United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, --- U.S. ----, 96 S.Ct. 3074, 49 L.Ed.2d ---, (1976).²A search at a permanent checkpoint is valid if, after stopping the vehicle, the Border Patrolman finds probable cause for the search.SeeUnited States v. Ortiz, 422 U.S. 891, 95 S.Ct. 2585, 45 L.Ed.2d 623(1975);United States v. Santibanez, 5 Cir., 1975, 517 F.2d 922.The odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle is probable cause justifying the search.United States v. Cantu, 5 Cir., 1974, 504 F.2d 387.

We reject appellant's argument that he should have been permitted to conduct an in-court experiment to test the Border Patrol officer's sense of smell by using herbs and spices as well as marijuana.The district court's refusal of the experiment was justified because the conditions of the proposed experiment might differ substantially from those existing at the time the officer smelled marijuana from appellant's car.United States v. Squella-Avendano, 5 Cir., 1973, 478 F.2d 433.

The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

*Rule 18,5 Cir.;seeIsbell Enterprises, Inc. v. Citizens Casualty Company of New York et al., 5 Cir., 1970, 431 F.2d 409, Part I.

1SeeUnited States v. Cantu, 5 Cir., 1974, 504 F.2d 387.Judge Wisdom stated in Cantu, "Border Patrol agents operated the checkpoint as the functional equivalent of a permanent station, although the location was varied slightly from time to time to make evasion more difficult."504 F.2d at 389.Although the trial court held this checkpoint to be the functional equivalent of the border, it is not necessary for us to consider the correctness of this finding.The checkpoint was clearly a permanent checkpoint.

2In Martinez-Fuerte, the Supreme Court in discussing the three kinds of inland traffic-checking operations used to minimize illegal immigration, said: "Permanent checkpoints, such as those at San Clemente (California) and Sarita (Texas), are maintained at or near intersections of important roads leading away from the border.They operate on a coordinated basis designed...