Frank Thomas Fumagalli v. United States

Appellant Frank Fumagalli has asked this Court to reverse his conviction, imposed in a trial without jury, for violating 18 U.S.C. § 545 . Fumagalli and three other persons were charged by Information with smuggling marihuana, benzedrine, and dexedrine tablets into the United States. They were arrested by Border Patrol inspectors after a package of marihuana was discovered in the trunk of the car in which they were riding.

The circumstances of the search of the trunk and the seizure of the marihuana form the factual material on which rests the sole question in this case: did the trial court err in admitting the marihuana and other drugs into evidence against the appellant ?

For reasons set forth in this opinion, we find that no error was committed by the District Court.

One evening in March, 1969, Fumagalli and the other defendants entered an immigration checkpoint regularly maintained by the Border Patrol at the intersection of Highways 78 and 86 in Imperial County, California. This location was about 49 miles north of the international boundary between the United States and Mexico. Inspector John Camp told the occupants that he was conducting an immigration inspection and…