United States v. Jose Guadalupe-Garza

Appellant appeals from a judgment convicting him for a violation of 21 U.S.C. § 174 (smuggling heroin) and a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111 (assaulting a federal officer). A five-year sentence was imposed on the first count, and a three-year sentence on the second, the sentences to run concurrently. A third count, charging him with a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1407 (failure to register as a narcotics addict), was dismissed, after the District Court found him not guilty.

Appellant does not attack his conviction for violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111 . We reverse the conviction for smuggling heroin for error in denying appellant’s motion to suppress the admission of the heroin that was the product of an illegal search.

After 4 o’clock in the afternoon of September 2, 1968, appellant entered the United States from Mexico at Calexico, California. In response to Customs Inspector Jones’ inquiries, appellant said he was an American citizen and that he was not bringing any merchandise into the United States from Mexico. Jones noticed nothing untoward about appellant and sent him on. Customs Inspector Baker, stationed at a secondary inspection point, observed appellant passing through the…