United States v. Pedro Heredia-Castillo

616 F.2d 1147 UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. Pedro HEREDIA-CASTILLO, Appellee. No. 79-1402. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. April 14, 1980. Patty Merkamp Stemler, Washington, D. C., argued, for appellant; Marvin K. Shurtliff, U. S. Atty., Boise, Idaho, Mary S. Hobson, Asst. U. S. Atty., Boise, Idaho, on brief. James F. Kile, Boise, Idaho, for appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho. Before MERRILL and FARRIS, Circuit Judges and BONSAL * , District Judge. FARRIS, Circuit Judge: 1 Appellee Heredia-Castillo was indicted for use of a forged immigration document in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1426 (b). The United States District Court for the District of Idaho granted Heredia-Castillo's motion to suppress the forged document on the ground that it was seized during the course of an unconstitutional investigatory stop and ordered suppression of certain statements made at the time of the document's surrender. After denying the government's request for a stay pending an appeal of the suppression order, the district court dismissed the indictment because of the government's failure to prosecute. The government has appealed…

Appellee Heredia-Castillo was indicted for use of a forged immigration document in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1426 (b). The United States District Court for the District of Idaho granted Heredia-Castillo’s motion to suppress the forged document on the ground that it was seized during the course of an unconstitutional investigatory stop and ordered suppression of certain statements made at the time of the document's surrender. After denying the government’s request for a stay pending an appeal of the suppression order, the district court dismissed the indictment because of the government’s failure to prosecute. The government has appealed both the suppression order and the dismissal of the indictment. We affirm.

Immigration Agent John Nygaard and a partner, while patrolling an area south of Nampa, Idaho, observed an automobile coming from a section of the Maurice Clements Ranch. Both the driver and his sole passenger, appellee Heredia-Castillo, appeared to be of Mexican descent. The Maurice Clements Ranch was well known among immigration agents as a refuge for illegal aliens. Agent Nygaard had arrested several aliens there earlier the same day. A number of other persons, believed by…

dissenting:

I dissent. The court majority concedes that the stop of the car and interrogation of the driver were supported by founded suspicion and thus were justified. What we are concerned with is the relatively slight additional intrusion upon appellee’s privacy that resulted when he was subjected to a brief interrogation and his immigration papers were examined. In my opinion that intrusion was amply supported by the five grounds for suspicion recited in part II of the majority opinion.