United States v. Isaias Martinez

MEMORANDUM

Defendant-Appellant Isaías Martinez appeals from his conviction and sentence for one count of drug conspiracy and one count of attempted possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

The district court did not err in denying Martinez’s motion to suppress evidence obtained during a warrantless black-light “search” of his hands. Assuming without deciding that the black-light test of Martinez’s hands was a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, see United States v. Baron, 860 F.2d 911, 918 (9th Cir.1988), the search was justified as incident to a lawful arrest. Law enforcement officers had probable cause to arrest Martinez prior to conducting the search because the totality of the circumstances known to them at that time would have led a prudent person to conclude that Martinez was probably involved in a conspiracy to possess and distribute illegal drugs. See id. at 917 . Various facts indicated a high likelihood of drug dealing, and Martinez was found in a small apartment with two other men at a time when “a dealer would be unlikely to admit an innocent person with the potential to furnish evidence…