Morales' suppression motion, claiming a lack of reasonable suspicion for the stop, was denied after a hearing at which Agent Bollier testified. Morales was convicted at a bench trial and sentenced, inter alia , to 68 months imprisonment.
Suppression hearing evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the prevailing party.
An investigatory stop must be justified by some objective manifestation that the person stopped is, or is about to be, engaged in criminal activity. At the suppression hearing, based on this extensive experience, he articulated the numerous facts and corresponding inferences that prompted the investigatory stop. Moreover, southeast from El Paso for approximately 60 miles, I-10 runs very close to the border. In the past year alone, the Agent had detained approximately 600 illegal aliens on this stretch of the highway. For those instances, 15-20 aliens were usually found hidden in the back of a van or pickup truck.