United States v. Jaime Lopez Carrillo
Opinion
Opinion
Leavy, J.
Jaime Lopez Carrillo appeals from the order of the district court denying his motion to suppress evidence of his stop and subsequent arrest by law enforcement officials in a rural area approximately six hours after a light airplane carrying 700 pounds of cocaine had made a desert landing nine miles away. Carrillo argues on appeal that the police officers did not have reasonable suspicion to detain him, that he did not consent to the detention, that the detention exceeded the proper scope and length of a legitimate Terry stop, and that the officers did not have probable cause to arrest him. Carrillo also contends that reversal is required because a portion of the transcripts of the motion to suppress hearing were irretrievably lost. We affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
On June 7, 1986, at approximately 8:25 p.m., a United States Customs airplane detected an unidentified aircraft twenty-nine miles southwest of Tucson, Arizona, flying without lights at a low altitude. At approximately 9:00 p.m., the aircraft touched down at a dirt landing strip thirteen miles southwest of Casa Grande, Arizona, and four miles from Interstate 8. The plane landed in the desert in the dark.