United States v. Molina-Gómez

• Decision Date: 20 March 2015
• Docket Number: No. 13–1494.,13–1494.
• Citation: 781 F.3d 13
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jorge L. MOLINA–GÓMEZ, Defendant, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

781 F.3d 13

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee

v.Jorge L. MOLINA–GÓMEZ, Defendant, Appellant.

No. 13–1494.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

March 20, 2015.

Leonardo M. Aldridge–Kontos, Assistant Federal Public Defender, with whom Héctor E. Guzmán–Silva, Jr., Federal Public Defender, Héctor L. Ramos–Vega, Assistant Federal Public Defender, and Liza L. Rosado–Rodríguez, Research and Writing Specialist, were on brief, for appellant.

Juan Carlos Reyes–Ramos, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Rosa Emilia Rodríguez–Vélez, United States Attorney, and Nelson Pérez–Sosa, Assistant United States Attorney, Chief, Appellate Division, were on brief, for appellee.

Before TORRUELLA, LIPEZ, and BARRON, Circuit Judges.

Opinion

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

Jorge L. Molina–Gómez (“Molina”) appeals the district court's order denying his motion to suppress both the heroin discovered in hidden compartments of his laptop computer and Sony Playstation game console and some of the statements he made to United States Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) officers upon returning to Puerto Rico from Colombia. While we find no Fourth Amendment violation, Molina's statements made during further secondary questioning regarding drug trafficking activity should have been suppressed. As a result, his case must be remanded so that he can opt to withdraw his plea and proceed to trial should he choose to do so.

I. Background¹

On August 6, 2012, at approximately 11:00 p.m., Molina arrived at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, via Panama, after a five-day trip to Colombia. This was the third time in four months in which Molina had taken a short trip to Colombia, a known source of illegal narcotics. As a result, the CBP computer system flagged Molina for questioning.

Upon deplaning, Molina was referred to secondary inspection, where he claimed one carry-on bag, one computer case holding an ACER laptop computer, and one small bag containing a Sony Playstation. The carry-on bag contained personal belongings, three cell phones, and a Western Union money gram in the amount of one million Colombian pesos (approximately $560) sent to Molina at the Hotel Galaxy the day after he arrived in Colombia by a Colombian man named Rodolfo Trochez Sardí.

In response to the CBP officers' questions, Molina explained that he traveled to Cartagena, Colombia, for four days to visit a friend, “Camilo,” whom he met through another friend named Cynthia. He stated that he purchased his ticket for $500 on the COPA Airlines website using a credit card, but that he did not have the credit card with him. Molina told the CBP officers that while in Colombia he stayed at the Hotel Galaxy and did not leave his hotel room, but rather just ate and played games on his Playstation.

These answers raised the CBP officers' suspicions, and further questioning and investigation revealed problems with Molina's story. For example, Molina did not know either Camilo or Cynthia's last name. And, contrary to his assertion, Molina did not purchase his plane ticket online via credit card, but rather it was purchased in cash at a Cali, Colombia travel agency. Indeed, all three of Molina's Colombian trips were booked with cash through this travel agency.

Molina was then escorted to a small (approximately ten-foot-by-ten-foot), windowless room containing one desk where he was patted down and subjected to further secondary questioning. He was in this room for approximately two hours and was asked about his trip to Colombia, his intentions upon reentry, and drug trafficking generally. The record is unclear as to what specifically the CBP officers asked and what Molina's responses were. He did, however, tell the officers that he had to work the following morning at 8:00 a.m., and he denied any involvement in drug trafficking.

While this questioning was ongoing, other CBP officers were inspecting Molina's belongings. They X-rayed his laptop, Playstation, and three cell phones and saw no contraband. They also confirmed that the electronics were all operational, but noted that while the laptop turned on, it contained no data despite being an older model. A review of the three cell phones showed text messages from Camilo, Sardí, and numerous unidentified others. These text messages involved money transactions totaling approximately $8,000 and referenced money Molina had already received and money he would receive once he arrived in New York. The phones also revealed a confirmed plane ticket from San Juan to New York for 9:35 the following morning, contradicting Molina's statement to CBP officers that he would be working in San Juan at 8:00 a.m.

Given all of these red flags, the officers suspected that Molina was smuggling narcotics. Because the pat-down yielded no results and the X-ray of Molina's electronics came back negative, the officers were concerned that Molina was carrying drugs internally. They explained the situation to Molina, and he voluntarily consented to a medical exam. At around 1:45 a.m., Molina was taken, in shackles,² to San Gerardo Hospital. An X-ray exam was inconclusive, so a CT scan

was performed and his bowel-movements were monitored. These tests confirmed that there were no foreign objects inside Molina's body. Later that day, at around 6:00 p.m., he was released from the hospital and transported back to the airport.

Upon returning to the airport, Molina was released by CBP and allowed to enter the United States. He was given all of his belongings except for the laptop and Playstation, which were detained for further examination by the CBP Forensics Laboratory because a dog-sniff “showed interest” in the laptop. Molina was given a pamphlet explaining the electronic-device detention process and whom to contact to inquire about the property.

The following day, August 8, the laptop and Playstation were received by the CBP Forensic Lab. The detention ticket indicated that the detention was for “data extraction” but this was in error, as the electronics were detained in order to be searched for hidden contraband. Indeed, no data extraction was ever conducted. Beginning on August 11, Molina started calling the CBP to inquire about the status of his electronics and when they would be returned. On August 24, a CBP forensic chemist disassembled the electronics and found black bags hidden inside sophisticated compartments of both the laptop and Playstation. The bags' contents tested positive for heroin—511 grams in the laptop and 1.05 kilograms in the Playstation.

On August 28, CBP, in coordination with ICE, called Molina to inform him that his electronics could be picked up at the airport. When Molina arrived later that day, he was arrested by ICE agents. The agents read Molina his rights, which Molina subsequently waived. He confirmed that he owned both the laptop and the Playstation, that he took them to Colombia and intended to return with them, that he had planned to travel to New York the morning after he returned to Puerto Rico but never did so, and that his trip to Colombia and New York were paid for by Sardí.

Molina was indicted for possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) & (b)(1)(A)(i), in September 2012. In December 2012, he filed a motion to suppress the heroin and any statements made during the further secondary questioning as violations of his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, respectively. The motion was denied via a brief text order, which stated in its entirety:

I am of the opinion that the position advanced by the government in the opposition to the motion to suppress is correct as a matter of law. The Motion to Suppress is denied. If the defendant pleads, he may preserve the issue on appeal.

Three days later, Molina entered a conditional plea pursuant to Rule 11(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure,³ and he now timely appeals the denial.

II. Discussion

A. Standard of Review

“We review the [district] court's findings of fact for clear error and review de novo its conclusions of law and its rulings on the constitutionality of the government's conduct.” United States v. Beras, 183 F.3d 22, 25 (1st Cir.1999) ; see also United States v. Carrigan, 724 F.3d 39, 45 (1st Cir.2013) (Fourth Amendment); United States v. Mittel–Carey, 493 F.3d 36, 39 (1st Cir.2007) (Fifth Amendment). Because the district court made no findings of fact, the entire record is reviewed de novo. United States v. Robles, 45 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir.1995). So long as “any reasonable view of the evidence supports it,” we will uphold the denial of the motion to suppress. United States v. Brown, 510 F.3d 57, 64 (1st Cir.2007) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

B. The Search of the Electronics

Molina first argues that the search of his laptop and Playstation, which uncovered the hidden heroin, was an unreasonable search in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Pursuant to the Fourth Amendment,

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

U.S. Const. amend. IV. It is well established, however, that “the Fourth Amendment's balance of reasonableness is qualitatively different at the international border than in the interior” due to the “longstanding concern for the protection of the integrity of the border.” United States v. Montoya de Hernández, 473 U.S. 531, 538, 105 S.Ct. 3304, 87 L.Ed.2d 381 (1985). This concern is, “if anything, heightened by the veritable national crisis in law enforcement caused by smuggling of illicit narcotics.” Id. As a result, there is a recognized “border search exception” to the warrant requirement. See United States v. Ramsey, 431 U.S. 606, 619–22, 97 S.Ct....