Hanson

MEMORANDUM **

Defendants Jessy Mathew Hanson, Interdeep Makhan Singh Khaira, and Hoang Cong Vo were stopped on a remote highway in the early morning hours of May 17, 2004, by U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Phillips. After stopping defendants, Phillips conducted a warrantless search of their vehicles. The following day, agents conducted another warrantless search of defendant Hanson’s hotel room. Defendants filed a joint motion to suppress the evidence uncovered in the vehicle search, arguing that the warrantless search of their vehicles was not justified by reasonable suspicion. Defendant Hanson also filed a separate motion to suppress evidence gathered in the warrantless search of his hotel room. The district court granted both motions to suppress. The *40 government appeals. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3731 , and we affirm.

“The Fourth Amendment prohibits ‘unreasonable searches and seizures’ by the Government, and its protections extend to brief investigatory stops of persons or vehicles that fall short of traditional arrest.” United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 273 , 122 S.Ct. 744 , 151 L.Ed.2d 740 (2002). An officer may not detain a motorist without a…