United States v. Robert Glenn Moore, United States of America v. Michael English

On stipulated facts, Moore and English were convicted of conspiracy and making false statements to customs officers, 18 U.S.C. § 1001 ; Moore was also convicted of bringing more than $5,000 cash into the country without reporting it, 31 U.S.C. § 1101 . We affirm.

*1173 I. Statement of the Case

Experienced government agents manning a radar screen detected an unidentified object, apparently an aircraft, crossing from Mexico into the United States at approximately 200 miles per hour. One of the agents called the local airport it was nearing and specified its location; the control tower identified it as appellants’ small airplane. The police were called. The plane landed; appellants emerged and got into a taxi. Policemen approached the taxi from behind with guns ready, but it started to drive off. The policemen raised their guns, and the taxi halted. Appellants were frisked and told, “We are just detaining you for customs, and this is a routine pat-down.” They were then placed in the caged rear seat of a police car.

A few minutes later, customs officers arrived by plane and appellants were moved to the airport manager’s office. Without giving Miranda warnings, a customs officer…

concurring specially:

The record satisfies me that the defendants’ actions, taken after the airplane landed, justified the precautionary measures taken by the officers, although at first blush those measures seemed excessive. Because those measures were justified, an arrest did not take place. Therefore, I concur in the result.

638 F.2d 1171 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robert Glenn MOORE, Defendant-Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Michael ENGLISH, Defendant-Appellant. Nos. 79-1416, 79-1417. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted Jan. 10, 1980. Decided Aug. 14, 1980. Rehearing Denied Oct. 22, 1980. J. William Beard, Jr., La Jolla, Cal., Michael J. McCabe, San Diego, Cal., for defendants-appellants. Raymond Edwards, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., San Diego, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Before CHOY, ANDERSON and PREGERSON, Circuit Judges. CHOY, Circuit Judge: 1 On stipulated facts, Moore and English were convicted of conspiracy and making false statements to customs officers, 18 U.S.C. § 1001 ; Moore was also convicted of bringing more than $5,000 cash into the country without reporting it, 31 U.S.C. § 1101 . We affirm.I. Statement of the Case 2 Experienced government agents manning a radar screen detected an unidentified object, apparently an aircraft, crossing from Mexico into the United States at approximately 200 miles per hour. One of the agents…