United States v. Cardona, EP-81-CR-146.
| Citation | 524 F. Supp. 45 |
| Decision Date | 08 September 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. EP-81-CR-146.,EP-81-CR-146. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America v. Reuben CARDONA, Eduardo Cardona and Bernabe Rascon-Duran. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Texas |
Rebecca Westfall, Asst. U. S. Atty., El Paso, Tex., for plaintiff.
Richard Mesa, El Paso, Tex., for Reuben Cardona.
Michael Villalba, El Paso, Tex., for Eduardo Cardona.
Roberto Ramos, El Paso, Tex., for Bernabe Rascon-Duran.
Defendants Reuben Cardona, Eduardo Cardona, and Bernabe Rascon-Duran are charged with transporting illegal aliens, inducing them to enter the country illegally, and conspiracy, in violation of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324(a)(2) and 1324(a)(4) and 18 U.S.C. § 371. Each has moved to suppress evidence obtained as a result of a roving patrol stop of their vehicle by officers of the Border Patrol.
The Border Patrol maintains a permanent checkpoint on U.S. Highway 70, roughly opposite the entrance to the White Sands National Monument. Highway 70 runs roughly northeast from Las Cruces, New Mexico on the west to Alamogordo, New Mexico on the east. About midnight on June 30, 1981, a white over blue Oldsmobile Cutlass with Colorado license plates pulling a U-Haul trailer was stopped at the checkpoint. The only occupants were Reuben Cardona, the driver, and his brother Eduardo Cardona. Each identified himself as a United States citizen. In response to questions by Border Patrolman Shelley, Reuben Cardona stated he was moving his cousin to Colorado, and that the trailer was empty. Shelley verified that nothing was in the trailer, and waved the two Defendants on.
A few minutes later, Agents Bentley and Kubas, who were on their way from Alamogordo to relieve the watch at the checkpoint, spotted the car and trailer stopped by the roadside about five miles east of the checkpoint. They radioed this information to the checkpoint, and Agent Daniels left the checkpoint in a Border Patrol van with the intention of taking up a position east of the vehicle's location to observe any movement it made. As he passed the car and trailer, it was still parked on the shoulder of the road, and the occupants could not be seen. Daniels took up a station by the side of Highway 70 a few miles to the east, to await developments.
About 45 minutes passed, and Daniels did not see the vehicle pass his position. He was then notified by radio by a passing Border Patrolman that the car and trailer had disappeared. Knowing that it had not passed him going east, and that no side roads were open on that stretch of Highway 70, Daniels concluded that the Oldsmobile and trailer had turned around and headed back toward Las Cruces. He gave chase, and Border Patrolman Bentley also left the checkpoint to pursue the vehicle. Since they did not know how much head start the Oldsmobile might have, they radioed ahead to ask any available Las Cruces Border Patrol unit to intercept the vehicle.
Border Patrolman Bunting from Las Cruces received the radio message about 1:00 a. m. The message was that Alamogordo agents were looking for a vehicle, and were chasing it west toward Las Cruces. It was described as a white over blue General Motors car, bearing Colorado plates with a specific license number, towing a U-Haul trailer. Bunting was not told why the Alamogordo units wanted the vehicle stopped, but assumed it was suspected of containing illegal aliens. He was told nothing about the occupants of the car, or whether the trailer was full or empty.
Bunting spotted the Defendants' vehicle about four or five miles northeast of Las Cruces, headed west. He made a U-turn and caught up with it. The license number of the Oldsmobile matched the description. He could tell the trailer "had weight in it," but couldn't tell what or how much. Based solely upon the radio instructions, he stopped the car. Reuben Cardona was still driving, and Eduardo Cardona was in the front seat. Two back seat occupants spoke no English and had no papers; they were determined to be illegal aliens. One of the two in the back seat was the Defendant Bernabe Rascon-Duran. The trailer was opened, and thirteen more illegal aliens were discovered.
Later investigation by the Border Patrol established that the Oldsmobile belonged to a girl friend of Reuben Cardona, and that she had loaned it to him. A license plate check verified that the owner was the person identified by Reuben Cardona.
The evidence at the hearing on the motions to suppress evidence failed to show that either Eduardo Cardona or Bernabe Rascon-Duran had any standing to contest the stop of the Oldsmobile. They were simply passengers. Neither has established any proprietary or possessory interest in the vehicle that would allow him to...
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