United States v. Jose Jesus Ramos-Zaragosa

Appellant was charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1) and (b). He was convicted in a trial without a jury and assigns as error the denial of his motion to suppress evidence. We reverse.

On April 9, 1974, an informer telephoned Special Agent George Cons and revealed that an old — perhaps 1965 or 1966 — green Ford station wagon or pickup with a white, homemade wooden shell camper was transporting heroin. It appears that the informer also notified Cons that the vehicle had California license plates.

Cons relayed the information to two officers of the Yuma City-County Narcotics Task Force, who later that day spotted a moving pickup, within the limits of the above description, with two occupants. The officers, driving an unmarked car, turned on the siren and a red dashboard light and approached on the left side of this pickup. The officer in the passenger seat of the unmarked car displayed his badge and gun through the window and ordered the occupants to put up their hands. The two vehicles traveled side by side, a few feet apart, at a speed of approximately 30-35 mph, for about 250-350 yards. One of the officers…

(dissenting):

I am not convinced that the government had full opportunity to support the reliability of the informant and therefore dissent.

516 F.2d 141 UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jose Jesus RAMOS-ZARAGOSA, Appellant. No. 74-2932. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. May 19, 1975. Richard Trujillo, Phoenix, Ariz., for appellant. Michael B. Scott, Asst. U. S. Atty., for appellee. OPINION Before HUFSTEDLER and SNEED, Circuit Judges, and NIELSEN, * District Judge. SNEED, Circuit Judge: 1 Appellant was charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1) and (b). He was convicted in a trial without a jury and assigns as error the denial of his motion to suppress evidence. We reverse. 2 On April 9, 1974, an informer telephoned Special Agent George Cons and revealed that an old perhaps 1965 or 1966 green Ford station wagon or pickup with a white, homemade wooden shell camper was transporting heroin. It appears that the informer also notified Cons that the vehicle had California license plates. 3 Cons relayed the information to two officers of the Yuma City-County Narcotics Task Force, who later that day spotted a moving pickup, within the limits of the above description, with two occupants. The officers, driving an unmarked car, turned on the siren…