United States v. Carlos Nates

Following the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence, Carlos Nates entered a conditional guilty plea under Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2) to one count of making a false statement to a government agency in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 and one count of failing to report transporting currency in violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5316 (a)(1)(A). The court sentenced him to eighteen months imprisonment. Nates appeals his conviction and sentence on the grounds that: (1) 31 U.S.C. § 5317 (b) (Supp. Ill 1985) [hereinafter § 5317(b)] (current version at 31 U.S.C.A. § 5317 (b) (West Supp.1987)) violates the fourth amendment of the Constitution by authorizing unreasonable searches and seizures; and (2) the district court erred in finding the customs officer had reasonable cause to search his luggage under § 5317(b). We affirm.

FACTS

United States customs agent Ausalon Miramontes was on duty at Los Angeles International Airport on April 29, 1986 visually inspecting baggage checked onto Avianca Airlines flight 81 bound for Bogota, Colombia. He was seeking to discover baggage carrying large amounts of undeclared currency from the United States. Miramontes selected Nates’ two bags for…

dissenting.

The court correctly applies the law of the circuit pertaining to border searches and I *864 therefore reluctantly join its opinion. 1 However, the court stops short in failing to consider the reasonableness of the search, a necessary further inquiry when defendant has challenged the search on fourth amendment grounds. 2 Although 31 U.S.C. § 5317 (b) (Supp. Ill 1985) authorized the government to search Nates’ luggage without a warrant or probable cause, the statute did not and could not exempt the search from the one irreducible requirement of the fourth amendment, the requirement of reasonableness. New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 337 , 105 S.Ct. 733, 741 , 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985); Go-Bart Importing Co. v. United States, 282 U.S. 344, 357 , 51 S.Ct. 153, 158 , 75 L.Ed. 374 (1931); United States v. Cardona, 769 F.2d 625, 629 (9th Cir.1985); United States v. Duncan, 693 F.2d 971, 977 (9th Cir.1982); United States v. Guadalupe-Garza, 421 F.2d 876, 878 (9th Cir.1970). The record here raises very serious doubts about whether the search was reasonable. I would therefore reverse or, at the very least, remand for the district court to consider the issue.

Introduction

What…

831 F.2d 860 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Carlos NATES, Defendant-Appellant. No. 86-5247. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted Aug. 4, 1987. * Decided Oct. 30, 1987. Duane J. Deskins and Carolyn J. Kubota, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. Joseph T. Vodnoy, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before WIGGINS, KOZINSKI and O'SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judges. WIGGINS, Circuit Judge: 1 Following the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence, Carlos Nates entered a conditional guilty plea under Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2) to one count of making a false statement to a government agency in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1001 and one count of failing to report transporting currency in violation of 31 U.S.C. Sec. 5316 (a)(1)(A). The court sentenced him to eighteen months imprisonment. Nates appeals his conviction and sentence on the grounds that: (1) 31 U.S.C. Sec. 5317 (b) (Supp. III 1985) [hereinafter Sec. 5317(b) ] (current version at 31 U.S.C.A. Sec. 5317 (b) (West Supp.1987)) violates the fourth amendment of the Constitution by authorizing…