United States v. Juan Perez-Castro

Appellant, Juan Perez-Castro, was convicted of having entered the United States illegally in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325 . On appeal, Perez contends that statements he made to border patrol agents subsequent to his arrest by Tucson police officers should have been suppressed because he was illegally arrested. We agree and reverse.

During the evening of June 13-14, 1978, appellant was asleep at the home of a friend in Tucson, Arizona. Sometime that night, he was awakened by unidentified officers of the Tucson Police Department and taken to the United States Border Patrol Sector Headquarters in Tucson. The officers had no arrest warrant and appellant did not know the reason for the officers’ entry into the home, or how they had gained access.

Appellant spent the rest of the night following his arrest in the border patrol’s detention facility. The next morning, he was questioned by Border Patrol Agent Donald Pierce. During routine processing, Perez said that he was from El Salvadore and had entered the United States illegally on January 5,1978. The only evidence that Perez was an illegal alien was statements he made during this standard processing.

At a suppression hearing,…