United States v. Jose Roberto Sanudo-Perez

564 F.2d 1288 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jose Roberto SANUDO-PEREZ, Defendant-Appellant. No. 76-3141. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Nov. 21, 1977. Rehearing Denied Jan. 25, 1978. Glorene Franco (argued), San Diego, Cal., for defendant-appellant. Barton C. Sheela, III (argued) on the brief, Terry J. Knoepp, U. S. Atty., San Diego, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Before CHAMBERS, KOELSCH and HUFSTEDLER, Circuit Judges. HUFSTEDLER, Circuit Judge: 1 Jose Roberto Sanudo-Perez ("Sanudo") appeals from his conviction for conspiracy to possess marihuana. The basic question on appeal is whether Sanudo's incriminating statements to a Drug Enforcement Agency ("DEA") agent were the fruit of an illegal arrest. We conclude that they were, and we accordingly reverse. 2 Two questions must be answered: (1) Was Sanudo illegally arrested? (2) Were the statements tainted by the illegal arrest? We answer both questions affirmatively. 3 The legality of the arrest turns upon the existence of probable cause to sustain the arrest made by Special DEA Agent Pulley. Based on information…