Frederick M. Dagampat v. United States

On July 15, 1964, the Federal Grand Jury for the Southern District of California returned a five-count indictment against appellant, charging violations of the federal narcotics laws. At the outset of his trial, appellant moved to suppress evidence, consisting of marijuana and marked money, that had been seized at the time of his arrest without a warrant.

The motion to suppress was based upon contentions raised by appellant on this appeal: that there was no reasonable cause to arrest appellant without a warrant, or, if there was reasonable cause, that the officers’ method of entry into appellant’s home was illegal; and that in either event the arrest was invalid and the subsequent search unlawful. Following the denial of his motion to suppress, appellant was found guilty on all counts by a jury.

The facts are not in dispute: Following directions of informant Rodriguez, on May 28, 1964, agent Nice drove Rodriguez (and another) to a certain street intersection in Los Angeles. Rodriguez told agent Nice that his “connection” (supplier of narcotics) told him to sit on a particular bus stop bench at a certain time. Nice gave to Rodriguez $225.00, consisting of bills whose serial…