United States v. Jose Rodriguez Santibanez
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jose Rodriguez SANTIBANEZ, Defendant-Appellant
Opinion
PER CURIAM:
Santibanez was stopped for an immigration check at the La Gloria checkpoint. While interrogating Santibanez concerning his citizenship the immigration officer smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the interior of the vehicle. His assistant thereupon opened the rear door of the station wagon and found 240 pounds of marijuana. Santibanez moved to suppress this evidence. The motion was denied. Santibanez was found guilty of possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. He appeals, contending that the search and seizure were illegal. We affirm.
We find no constitutional dereliction in stopping vehicles at this permanent checkpoint for the purpose of determining the occupant’s citizenship. Such a stop is considerably less intrusive than a search, Terry v. Ohio, 1968, 392 U.S. 1 , 88 S.Ct. 1868 , 20 L.Ed.2d 889 .
Cf.
United States v. Ortiz, 422 U.S. -, 95 S.Ct. 2585 , 45 L.Ed.2d 623 , 43 L.W. 5026 (June 30, 1975).
1
The odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle’s interior gave the immigration officer probable cause to then conduct the search. The motion to suppress the evidence was thus properly denied.
Affirmed.
1
. The question here presented was expressly reserved by the Supreme Court in Ortiz.
How later courts describe this case
No later court has written an explanatory parenthetical about this case yet.
Cited by 21 cases
View all citing references →Relies on it most ⓘ
Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.