Elizondo-Hernandez

MEMORANDUM **

Hector Elizondo-Hernandez appeals his conviction of three counts of illegal entry by an alien in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325 . 1 Pursuant to Elizondo-Hernandez’s conditional plea, he challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress statements that he made when approached and questioned by Border Patrol Agent Bova. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm the district court’s denial of the motion to suppress.

Elizondo-Hernandez argues that his encounter with Bova was an investigatory seizure under the Fourth Amendment and was not supported by reasonable suspicion. The Fourth Amendment requires that law enforcement officers have reasonable suspicion or probable cause to justify searches and seizures, even seizures that involve only a brief detention short of an arrest. See United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 551 , 100 S.Ct. 1870 , 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980). A consensual encounter with a police officer, however, “will not trigger Fourth Amendment scrutiny unless it loses its consensual nature.” Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429, 434 , 111 S.Ct. 2382 , 115 L.Ed.2d 389 (1991).

Questioning by an officer constitutes a seizure under the…