United States v. Rene Martin Verdugo-Urquidez

Rene Martin Verdugo-Urquidez is in custody awaiting trial on twenty counts of a forty-one-count indictment returned against him and thirty-eight other defendants. The indictment charges Verdugo-Urquidez with numerous narcotics and narcotics-related criminal violations, including conspiracy to import multi-ton quantities of marijuana into the United States, possession with intent to distribute multi-ton quantities of marijuana, and engaging in an on-going criminal enterprise. Verdugo-Urquidez’s presence in the United States is the result of his arrest by Mexican police officers in Mexico and his delivery by them, across the border, into the waiting arms of the United States government. Verdugo-Urquidez challenged the district court’s jurisdiction over him because of the manner in which the United States obtained his custody. The district court rejected this contention, and Verdugo-Urquidez has not sought to appeal that ruling. The government appeals from the district court’s order suppressing certain evidence obtained by United States Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) agents during their search of Ver-dugo-Urquidez’s residence in Mexicali, Mexico.

The government raises two major…

dissenting:

In holding that the fourth amendment applies to a foreign search of a foreign national’s residence, the majority fails to mention, much less attempt to explain, the Supreme Court’s seemingly unequivocal pronouncement that “[n]either the Constitution nor the laws passed in pursuance of it have any force in foreign territory unless in respect of our own citizens.” United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp., 299 U.S. 304, 318 , 57 S.Ct. 216, 220 , 81 L.Ed. 255 (1936) (Curtiss-Wright).

Verdugo is not an American citizen. He does not reside in the United States. The search in this case occurred in a foreign country. Yet, the majority concludes that Verdugo, a Mexican citizen residing in Mexico, is entitled to invoke the fourth amendment to suppress evidence obtained in a search that occurred on Mexican soil. That a nonresident alien has any reasonable expectation of privacy in his foreign country with respect to our government is so startling a proposition to me that, even if the Supreme Court had not written Cur-tiss-Wright, it would be difficult for me to accept such an illogical proposition in the absence of compelling precedent or sound reasoning. The majority,…

856 F.2d 1214 57 USLW 2152 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Rene Martin VERDUGO-URQUIDEZ, Defendant-Appellee. No. 87-5061. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Dec. 10, 1987. Decided Aug. 29, 1988. Roger W. Haines, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Crim. Div., San Diego, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant. Michael Pancer and Patrick Q. Hall, San Diego, Cal., for defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Before WALLACE, NORRIS and THOMPSON, Circuit Judges. DAVID R. THOMPSON, Circuit Judge: 1 Rene Martin Verdugo-Urquidez is in custody awaiting trial on twenty counts of a forty-one-count indictment returned against him and thirty-eight other defendants. The indictment charges Verdugo-Urquidez with numerous narcotics and narcotics-related criminal violations, including conspiracy to import multi-ton quantities of marijuana into the United States, possession with intent to distribute multi-ton quantities of marijuana, and engaging in an on-going criminal enterprise. Verdugo-Urquidez's presence in the United States is the result of his arrest by Mexican police officers in Mexico and his…