United States v. Hector Soto-Zuniga

Hector Soto-Zuniga appeals his jury conviction for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). Soto-Zuniga was arrested at a checkpoint in San Clemente, California, after Border Patrol agents found 2.9 kilograms of methamphetamine on the floor of the backseat of his car during a search. Before the first trial, which ultimately resulted in a hung jury and a mistrial, Soto-Zuniga filed motions to suppress the drug evidence. In one of the motions he argued that the checkpoint was unconstitutional and requested discovery of the checkpoint’s arrest and search statistics. The district court denied these motions.

At both his first trial and his subsequent re-trial, Soto-Zuniga testified that before being stopped at the checkpoint, he had given a ride to three teenagers he did not know as a favor to his cousin’s husband, Christian Rios Campos. The government stipulated that Rios was a known drug smuggler who recruited juveniles to smuggle drugs into the United States, and Soto-Zuniga’s primary defense was that the teenagers had planted the drugs in the car without his knowledge. Before the second trial, Soto-Zuniga moved for…