United States v. Roy F. Munoz

Munoz appeals from his conviction for possessing and transporting a golden eagle in violation of 16 U.S.C. § 668 (a) (1976). He argues that the evidence should have been suppressed because it was found during a roving vehicle stop that was not supported by a founded suspicion. At issue is whether the practice of stopping all vehicles in National Parks during a roving patrol to check wood permits and ask about park use and game violations is permissible under the Fourth Amendment. We conclude that the stop violated Fourth Amendment rights and reverse.

FACTS

On December 31, 1980, Munoz invited a friend to go with him to Mount Hood National Forest to pick up a dead golden eagle that Munoz told his friend he found in a trap. Munoz drove his pickup truck to the White River Management Area located within the National Forest, where Munoz had left the bird hidden in a tree.

Munoz placed the eagle in the back of the truck along with a dead doe and the head of a buck deer. He covered the deer and the eagle with cut timber gathered from a cutting site and some logs picked up from the side of the road.

On that same day, Oregon State Police game trooper Patton and Oregon Department of Fish…