United States v. Abel Torres-Urena

Appellant was convicted of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. section 841 (a)(1). His sole argument on appeal is that there was no basis for a founded suspicion to justify the stop that led to his arrest. We reverse.

At approximately 6:20 on the morning of May 1, 1974, United States Customs Patrol Officer Leonard Dixon, with his partner, was patrolling Monument Road, an east-west artery in San Ysidro, California. The sun was up, the day was already bright, and Dixon noticed a pickup truck parked approximately 50 yards up a private driveway south of the road. A man was loading cardboard boxes into the pickup, but Dixon could not see him clearly enough at that distance to describe him and could not see what was inside the boxes. He had been informed that a female school teacher lived in the residence at the end of the driveway, but he had never met her, was unaware if she was married, and was not familiar with all the vehicles she used. He did know, however, that there were no other structures between this residence and the border, which was one-quarter mile away. When the pickup emerged from the driveway, Dixon stopped it and found…

(dissenting):

Respectfully, I dissent.

In United States v. Holland, 510 F.2d 453 (9th Cir., 1975), we again cited with approval the rule of this circuit taken from Wilson v. Porter, 361 F.2d 412 (9th Cir. 1966), where it was said:

Id. at 415 .

One-fourth of a mile from the international border at 6:20 a. m. in May 1974, customs patrol officers patrolled an area near the beach in San Ysidro, California. One officer, with three and one-half years’ experience as a customs patrol officer, customs inspector and border patrol officer, the last six months of which had involved working in the very area in question almost daily, observfed a truck parked part way up a private driveway to the west of the highway. The driveway led to the home of a female school teacher, who was known to own passenger cars but no trucks.

On his daily patrols through the area, the officer had observed “traffic around the area, what appeared to be sea bags or boxes being drug from the brush out to the driveway.” The officer knew that there were few other residences or buildings of any kind in the immediate area where he saw the truck, and none between the driveway and the border. He also knew that the area…

513 F.2d 540 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Abel TORRES-URENA, Defendant-Appellant. No. 74-2949. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. March 20, 1975. Frank T. Vecchione (argued), San Diego, Cal., for defendant-appellant. William A. Shaw, Asst. U. S. Atty. (argued), for plaintiff-appellee. Before BROWNING and WRIGHT, Circuit Judges, and ZIRPOLI, * District Judge. OPINION PER CURIAM: 1 Appellant was convicted of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. section 841 (a)(1). His sole argument on appeal is that there was no basis for a founded suspicion to justify the stop that led to his arrest. We reverse. 2 At approximately 6:20 on the morning of May 1, 1974, United States Customs Patrol Officer Leonard Dixon, with his partner, was patrolling Monument Road, an east-west artery in San Ysidro, California. The sun was up, the day was already bright, and Dixon noticed a pickup truck parked approximately 50 yards up a private driveway south of the road. A man was loading cardboard boxes into the pickup, but Dixon could not see him clearly enough at that distance to describe him and could not see what was inside the boxes. He…