US v. Vasquez-Castillo, VASQUEZ-CASTILL
| Decision Date | 31 July 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 01-2023,VASQUEZ-CASTILL,D,01-2023 |
| Citation | 258 F.3d 1207 |
| Parties | (10th Cir. 2001) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. RIGOBERTOefendant-Appellant |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Mario A. Esparza, Las Cruces, New Mexico, for Appellant.
David N. Williams, Assistant United States Attorney (Norman C. Bay, United States Attorney, with him on the brief), Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Appellee.
Before TACHA, Chief Judge, POLITZ,* and LUCERO, Circuit Judges.
Mr. Vasquez-Castillo appeals the district court's order denying his motion to suppress physical evidence. We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1291 and affirm.
The New Mexico Motor Transportation Division operates a permanent port of entry on Interstate 40 near San Jon, New Mexico, approximately fifteen miles from the Texas New Mexico border. New Mexico law requires all commercial carriers entering or leaving New Mexico to stop at all ports of entry. N.M. Stat. Ann. 65-5-1(A). The state authorizes personnel assigned to the ports of entry to inspect commercial vehicles and their documentation to determine whether the vehicles, drivers, and cargo are in compliance with state laws regarding public safety, health, and welfare. N.M. Stat. Ann. 65-5-1.
The San Jon port of entry has a primary and secondary inspection area, known respectively as the "driveway" and "inspection bay." Commercial carriers displaying a current CVSA inspection decal1 are routinely subject to only a brief inspection at the driveway. But if the commercial carrier does not display a current CVSA inspection decal, port of entry personnel routinely direct it to an inspection bay for a more thorough inspection. Inspectors conduct three levels of inspections at the inspection bays. Of these, Level 1 is the most thorough.
At about 1:30 p.m. on May 2, 2000, Appellant Rigoberto Vasquez-Castillo drove a 1992 International cab-over truck hauling a trailer into the eastbound side of the San Jon port of entry. A passenger accompanied him. Officer Taylor, one of the agents on duty, noticed that Mr. Vasquez-Castillo's truck did not have a CVSA decal. He also noticed that Mr. Vasquez-Castillo's logbook was not current. He further observed some irregularities with Mr. Vasquez-Castillo's bill of lading. The amount of cargo, 10,000 pounds, seemed to him to be very small for a commercial carrier. The logbook also showed that the truck had made three previous stops, but Mr. Vasquez-Castillo presented only one bill of lading, rather than one for each stop as is customary. Because of the lack of a CVSA decal and the other irregularities, Officer Taylor directed Mr. Vasquez-Castillo to the inspection bay for a Level 1 safety inspection.
At the inspection bay, Inspector Pacheco conducted the inspection. After inspecting the outside of the truck and trailer, he inspected the undercarriage and brakes. When Inspector Pacheco had finished, Officer Taylor discussed with him the irregularities regarding Mr. Vasquez-Castillo's log book and bill of lading. They then decided to inspect the blocking and bracing and cargo.2
After Mr. Vasquez-Castillo opened the trailer, Inspector Pacheco entered the trailer. He observed three pallets with shrink-wrapped boxes lying unsecured, along with a stack of empty pallets near the front of the trailer. He considered this an unusually small amount of cargo for a truck of that size. As he proceeded forward in the trailer he detected the odor of raw marijuana. He also noticed a crack in the wall of the trailer, through which he could see a space between the inner wall and outer hull of the trailer. He further noticed that the front wall of the trailer had footprints on it with the toe facing down, was exceptionally clean, and had shiny new siderails while the rest of the trailer and truck was fairly old. Finally, he noticed an air vent in the trailer that appeared to lead to nowhere.
Inspector Pacheco asked Mr. Vasquez-Castillo to join him at the front of the trailer so he could explain whether the front of the trailer had been broken. Mr. Vasquez-Castillo stated that he had owned the trailer for only five months and that it was in the same condition as when he bought it. Inspector Pacheco then asked for Mr. Vasquez-Castillo's permission to search behind the wall. Mr. Vasquez-Castillo signed a consent to the search. He also loaned Inspector Pacheco his cordless drill to remove the braces from the wall.
Once he had opened the wall, Inspector Pacheco found wrapped bundles containing over 800 pounds of marijuana concealed in the compartment. Mr. Vasquez-Castillo was placed under arrest at that time. He then made a number of inculpatory statements, saying that it was all his fault and making other admissions.
Mr. Vasquez-Castillo moved to suppress the marijuana discovered in the trailer and his subsequent statements. The district court denied his motion. Mr. Vasquez-Castillo then entered into a conditional plea agreement, reserving the right to withdraw his guilty plea if the district court's order is reversed on appeal. He was sentenced to thirty months imprisonment to be followed by four years of supervised release. This appeal followed.
United States v. West, 219 F.3d 1171, 1176 (10th Cir. 2000) (citations omitted).
Mr. Vasquez-Castillo argues that Inspector Pacheco's search of the trailer went beyond the permissible scope of safety inspection and was, therefore, a violation of the Fourth Amendment. We find this argument to be without merit.
We have previously held that commercial trucking is an industry closely regulated by both federal and state governments. United States v. Burch, 153 F.3d 1140, 1141-43 (10th Cir. 1998); V-1 Oil Co. v. Means, 94 F.3d 1420, 1426 (10th Cir. 1996); accord United States v. Fort, 248 F.3d 475, 480 (5th Cir. 2001); United States v. Dominguez-Prieto, 923 F.2d 464, 468 (6th Cir. 1991); New Mexico v. Jutte, 968 P.2d 334, 338 (N.M. Ct. App. 1998). Because it is a closely regulated industry, we apply the test articulated in New York v. Burger, 482 U.S. 691 (1987).
In Burger, the Supreme Court established a three-part test for determining whether a warrantless inspection of a closely regulated industry violates the Fourth Amendment:
First, there must be a substantial government interest that informs the regulatory scheme pursuant to which the inspection is made. Second, the warrantless inspections must be necessary to further the regulatory scheme. . . . Finally, the statute's inspection program, in terms of the certainty and regularity of its application, must provide a constitutionally adequate substitute for a warrant.
Burger, 482 U.S. 691, 702-03 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).
We find that the safety inspections of commercial carriers satisfy the first prong of the Burger test. "The state clearly has a substantial interest in regulating [commercial carriers] to protect public safety on the highways." Means, 94 F.3d at 1426; accord Fort, 248 F.3d at 480; Dominguez-Prieto, 923 F.2d at 468.
While we have not squarely answered the question of whether routine safety inspections are necessary to further the regulatory scheme governing commercial carriers, two of our sister circuits have. We agree with the Fifth and Sixth Circuits that the factors justifying the warrantless inspections of commercial carriers are "more compelling than those present in Burger" because commercial carriers, unlike the automobile junkyards considered in Burger, "pass quickly through states and out of the jurisdiction of the enforcement agencies." Dominguez-Prieto, 923 F.2d at 469; accord Fort, 248 F.3d at 481; see also Means, 94 F.3d at 1426 (). Thus, we find that the safety inspections presently under consideration satisfy the second prong of the Burger test.
To satisfy this requirement, a regulation must sufficiently inform the commercial property owner that his property will be subject to periodic inspections undertaken for specific purposes, must notify owners as to who is authorized to conduct an inspection, and must limit the discretion of inspectors in time, place, and scope. Burger, 482 U.S. at 701-03; accord Means, 94 F.3d at 1425.
We find that the regulatory scheme governing commercial carriers provides adequate notice to owners and operators of commercial carriers that their property will be subject to periodic inspections and adequately limits the discretion of inspectors in place and scope. New Mexico law requires all commercial motor vehicle carriers to "stop at every port of entry . . . for manifesting and clearance stickers." N.M. Stat. Ann. 65-5-1(A). The operators of commercial motor vehicle carriers are required, upon request, to produce a manifest containing fourteen specific items of information relating to the vehicle and its owner, driver, and cargo. N.M. Stat. Ann. 65-5-1(B). Inspectors at the port of entry are permitted to verify this information and to ascertain whether the condition of the vehicle is safe for operation on the state's highways. N.M. Stat. Ann. 65-5-1(C). To determine whether the vehicle is safe, those in charge of the port of entry are permitted to "inspect the vehicle and its contents to determine...
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