United States v. Carlo Zaccagnini

MEMORANDUM

Defendant Carlo Robert Zaccagnini appeals his conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 . He argues that Border Patrol agents (1) lacked reasonable suspicion to initiate an investigatory stop of his vehicle and (2) lacked probable cause to deploy a tire deflation device to stop his vehicle. We affirm.

1. We review de novo the legal question whether reasonable suspicion existed to justify an investigatory stop and review for clear error the district court’s findings of fact. United States v. Tiong, 224 F.3d 1136, 1139 (9th Cir.2000).

Extended border searches, “which occur after the actual entry has been effect ed and intrude more on an individual’s normal expectation of privacy[,] ... must be justified by reasonable suspicion that the subject of the search was involved in criminal activity.” United States v. Guzman-Padilla, 573 F.3d 865, 877-78 (9th Cir.2009) (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). Law enforcement officers must also “possess a reasonable certainty that a border has been crossed.” Id. at 878 (internal quotation marks omitted).

Here, the officers were reasonably certain that…