United States v. James Kenneth Roberts, AKA Harold Weber, United States of America v. Clifton Lee Hawk

This appeal involves the interception and search of a marijuana-laden sailing vessel at sea by a Coast Guard team assigned to a naval ship. Roberts appeals his conviction after a jury trial. Hawk appeals his conviction after a conditional guilty plea pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm both convictions.

I

On May 14, 1984, the U.S.S. Reid (the Reid), a United States Navy guided-missile frigate, was approximately 130 miles west of the Mexican coastline and 1,800 miles south of San Diego. A team of five Coast Guard personnel was aboard the Reid as part of a cooperative Navy/Coast Guard program for enforcement of United States laws on the high seas. After observing the Sea Waltz, a 41-foot long sailboat, the Coast Guard personnel on board contacted it by radio and announced their intention to come aboard to determine compliance with United States laws. A Coast Guard boarding team was then dispatched from the Reid in a boarding boat with a Navy crew. As the boarding boat approached the Sea Waltz, the Coast Guard personnel smelled marijuana. They then boarded the Sea Waltz and discovered that it was filled with bales, each…