United States v. Blanca Estrada-Lucas

AMENDED OPINION

Blanca Acevedo was charged with violation of 18 U.S.C. § 545 , importing merchandise without declaring it. Her first trial ended in a hung jury. Upon retrial to a second jury, she was convicted. On appeal, Acevedo argues that the trial court erred in excluding as evidence at the second trial the fact that she passed a certain polygraph test. The court had admitted the evidence at the first trial. We agree, and reverse. In the event of retrial, we also reach Acevedo’s second claim of error, i, e., that her statements to customs agents should have been suppressed. On this point, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

FACTS

On October 14, 1977, Acevedo came into this country from Mexico and submitted to customs inspection at the Port of Entry, San Ysidro, California. Her luggage consisted of a shoulder bag and a duffel bag. She did not reply when customs agent Gomes, who inspected her, asked in English what she was bringing from Mexico. When he repeated the question in Spanish, she replied in Spanish. According to Inspector Gomes, she said, “Nada, mi ropa, nada mas,” which means “Nothing, my clothes, nothing more.” According to her, she said “Mi ropa, las mantillas…