United States v. Jose Patricio Sanchez-Murillo

I

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL SETTING

Defendant-Appellant Jose Patricio Sanchez-Murillo (herein “defendant”) appeals from his conviction for conspiring to smuggle, induce, harbor and transport illegal aliens, and for harboring illegal aliens, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 and 8 U.S.C. § 1324 . Defendant was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for these violations on April 5, 1978. On May 4, 1978, defendant moved for dismissal of the indictment on the ground that the government had returned a “percipient witness” to Mexico without allowing his counsel the opportunity to interview the witness.

Evidence adduced at the pretrial hearing on the motion for dismissal revealed that in September of 1977, the Border Patrol received an anonymous telephone call stating that two houses belonging to one of the other defendants in the case were being used as “drop houses” for illegal aliens. Border Patrol Agent Daniel McCaskill (herein “Agent McCaskill”) began preliminary surveillance of the houses in September. In February 1978, Agent McCaskill intensified his investigation and the Border Patrol began conducting intensive surveil-lances of the houses over a period of several weeks.

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