Source: http://www.chanrobles.com/usa/us_supremecourt/458/858/case.php
Timestamp: 2019-09-22 14:40:50
Document Index: 659886866

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3', '§ 1357', '§ 287', '§ 1252', '§ 242', '§ 3', '§ 8', '§ 1324']

Respondent entered the United States illegally on March 23, 1980, and was taken by smugglers to a house in Escondido, Cal. Six days later, in exchange for his not having to pay the smugglers for bringing him across the border, respondent agreed to drive himself and five other passengers to Los Angeles. When the car which respondent was driving chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Respondent moved in the District Court to dismiss the indictment, claiming that the Government's deportation of the two passengers other than Romero-Morales violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process of law and his Sixth Amendment right to compulsory process for obtaining favorable witnesses. He claimed that the deportation had deprived him of the opportunity to interview the two remaining passengers to determine whether they could aid in his defense. Although he had been in their presence throughout the allegedly criminal activity, respondent made no attempt to explain how the deported passengers could assist him in proving that he did not know that Romero-Morales was an illegal alien who had last entered the United States within the preceding three years. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction. The court relied upon the rule, first stated in United States v. Mendez-Rodriguez, 450 F.2d 1 (CA9 1971), that the Government violates the Fifth and Sixth Amendments when it deports alien witnesses before defense counsel has an opportunity to interview them. 647 F.2d 72, 775 (1981). Although it stated that a constitutional violation occurs only when "the alien's testimony could conceivably benefit the defendant," id. at 74, the court's application of the "conceivable benefit" test demonstrated that the test will be satisfied whenever the deported aliens were eyewitnesses to the crime. [Footnote 4] Respondent's chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
We think that the decision of the Court of Appeals in this case, and some of the additional arguments made in support of it by respondent, misapprehend the varied nature of the duties assigned to the Executive Branch by Congress. The Constitution imposes on the President the duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." U.S.Const., Art. II, § 3. One of the duties of the Executive Branch, and a vitally important one, is that of apprehending and obtaining the conviction of those who have violated criminal statutes of the United States. The prosecution of respondent is, of course, one example of the Executive's effort to discharge that responsibility. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The power to regulate immigration -- an attribute of sovereignty essential to the preservation of any nation -- has been entrusted by the Constitution to the political branches of the Federal Government. See Mathews v. Diaz, 426 U. S. 67, 426 U. S. 81 (1976). "The Court without exception has sustained Congress' plenary power to make rules for the admission of aliens.'" Kleindienst v. Mandel, 408 U. S. 753, 408 U. S. 766 (1972) (quoting Boutilier v. INS, 387 U. S. 118, 387 U. S. 123 (1967)). In exercising this power, Congress has adopted a policy of apprehending illegal aliens at or near the border and deporting them promptly. Border Patrol agents are authorized by statute to make warrantless arrests of aliens suspected of "attempting to enter the United States in violation of . . . law," 8 U.S.C. § 1357(a)(2), and are directed to examine them without "unnecessary delay" to determine whether "there is prima facie evidence establishing" their attempted illegal entry. 8 CFR § 287.3 (1982). Aliens against whom such evidence exists may be granted immediate voluntary departure from the country. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b); 8 CFR § 242.5(a)(2)(i) (1982). Thus, Congress has determined that prompt deportation, such as occurred in this case, constitutes the most effective method for curbing the enormous flow of illegal aliens across our southern border. [Footnote 5] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Viewing the Government's conduct in this light, we turn to the evaluation of the Court of Appeals' "conceivable benefit" test. There seems to us to be little doubt that this test is a virtual "per se" rule which requires little, if any, showing on the part of the accused defendant that the testimony of the absent witness would have been either favorable or material. As we said with respect to a similar test -- phrased in terms of information "that might affect the jury's verdict" -- for determining when a prosecutor must disclose information to a criminal defendant:
United States v. Agurs, 427 U. S. 97, 427 U. S. 109 (1976).
So it is with the "conceivable benefit" test. Given the vagaries of a typical jury trial, it would be a bold statement indeed to say that the testimony of any missing witness could not have "conceivably benefited" the defense. To us, the chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
number of situations which will satisfy this test is limited only by the imaginations of judges or defense counsel. [Footnote 6]
The only recent decision of this Court dealing with the right to compulsory process guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment suggests that more than the mere absence of testimony is necessary to establish a violation of the right. See Washington v. Texas, 388 U. S. 14 (1967). Indeed, the Sixth Amendment does not, by its terms, grant to a criminal defendant the right to secure the attendance and testimony of any and all witnesses: it guarantees him "compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor." U.S.Const., Amdt. 6 (emphasis added). In Washington, this Court found a violation of this Clause of the Sixth Amendment when the defendant was arbitrarily deprived of "testimony [that] would have been relevant and material, and . . . vital to the defense." 388 U.S. at 388 U. S. 16 (emphasis added). This language suggests that respondent cannot establish a violation of his constitutional right to compulsory process merely by showing that deportation of the passengers deprived him of their testimony. He must at least make some plausible showing of how their testimony would have been both material and favorable to his defense. [Footnote 7]
When we turn from Washington to other cases in what might loosely be called the area of constitutionally guaranteed access to evidence, we find Washington's intimation of a chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Id. at 373 U. S. 87. This materiality requirement was emphasized in Moore v. Illinois, 408 U. S. 786 (1972), where we stated that a defendant will prevail upon a Brady claim "where the evidence is favorable to the accused and is material either to guilt or to punishment." Id. at 408 U. S. 794. And in United States v. Agurs, supra, we noted that
Id. at 427 U. S. 104. We further explained:
Id. at 427 U. S. 112-113 (footnotes omitted).
Similarly, when the Government has been responsible for delay resulting in a loss of evidence to the accused, we have recognized a constitutional violation only when loss of the evidence prejudiced the defense. In United States v. Marion, 404 U. S. 307 (1971), for example, the Court held that preindictment delay claims were governed by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, not by the speedy trial guarantee of the Sixth Amendment. Elaborating on the nature of the guarantee provided by the Due Process Clause chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Id. at 404 U. S. 325. Five Terms later, in United States v. Lovasco, 431 U. S. 783 (1977), we summarized this aspect of Marion:
Id. at 431 U. S. 790.
The same "prejudice" requirement has been applied to cases of postindictment delay. In Barker v. Wingo, 407 U. S. 514 (1972), the Court set forth several factors to be considered in determining whether an accused has been denied his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial by the Government's pretrial delay. One of the four factors identified by the Court, and a factor more fully discussed in United States v. MacDonald, 435 U. S. 850, 435 U. S. 858-859 (1978), was whether there had been any "prejudice to the defendant from the delay." Id. at 435 U. S. 858. Although the Court recognized that prejudice may take the form of "oppressive pretrial incarceration'" or "`anxiety and concern of the accused,'" the "`most serious'" consideration, analogous to considerations in this case, was impairment of the ability to mount a defense. See ibid. (quoting Barker v. Wingo, supra, at 407 U. S. 532). Thus, other interests protected by the Sixth Amendment look to the degree of prejudice incurred by a defendant as a result of governmental action or inaction. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
353 U.S. at 353 U. S. 64-65.
MCray v. Illinois, supra, at 386 U. S. 311, despite the fact that criminal defendants otherwise have no access to such informers to determine what relevant information they possess. Roviaro supports the conclusion that, while a defendant who has not had an opportunity to interview a witness may face a difficult task in making a showing of materiality, the task is not an impossible one. In such circumstances, it is, of course, not possible to make any avowal of how a witness may testify. But the events to which a witness might testify, and the relevance of those events to the crime charged, may well demonstrate either the presence or absence of the required materiality.
In addition, it should be remembered that respondent was present throughout the commission of this crime. No one knows better than he what the deported witnesses actually said to him, or in his presence, that might bear upon whether he knew that Romero-Morales was an illegal alien who had entered the country within the past three years. And, in light of the actual charge made in the indictment, it was only the status of Romero-Morales which was relevant to the defense. Romero-Morales, of course, remained fully available for examination by the defendant and his attorney. We thus conclude that the respondent can establish no Sixth Amendment violation without making some plausible explanation of the assistance he would have received from the testimony of the deported witnesses. [Footnote 8] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Lisenba v. California, 314 U. S. 219, 314 U. S. 236 (1941). In another setting, we recognized that Jencks Act violations, wherein the Government withholds evidence required by statute to be disclosed, rise to the level of due process violations only when they so infect the fairness of the trial as to make it "more a spectacle or trial by ordeal than a disciplined contest." United States v. Augenblick, 393 U. S. 348, 393 U. S. 356 (1969) (citations omitted). Such an absence of fairness is not made out by the Government's deportation of the witnesses in this case unless there is some explanation of how their testimony would have been favorable and material. See United States v. Lovasco, 431 U. S. 783 (1977); United States v. Marion, 404 U. S. 307 (1971).
To summarize, the responsibility of the Executive Branch faithfully to execute the immigration policy adopted by Congress justifies the prompt deportation of illegal alien witnesses upon the Executive's good faith determination that they possess no evidence favorable to the defendant in a criminal prosecution. The mere fact that the Government chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Because prompt deportation deprives the defendant of an opportunity to interview the witnesses to determine precisely what favorable evidence they possess, however, the defendant cannot be expected to render a detailed description of their lost testimony. But this does not, as the Court of Appeals concluded, relieve the defendant of the duty to make some showing of materiality. Sanctions may be imposed on the Government for deporting witnesses only if the criminal defendant makes a plausible showing that the testimony of the deported witnesses would have been material and favorable to his defense, in ways not merely cumulative to the testimony of available witnesses. In some cases, such a showing may be based upon agreed facts, and will be in the nature of a legal argument, rather than a submission of additional facts. In other cases, the criminal defendant may advance additional facts, either consistent with facts already known to the court or accompanied by a reasonable explanation for their inconsistency with such facts, with a view to persuading the court that the testimony of a deported witness would have been material and favorable to his defense. [Footnote 9] Because, in the latter situation, the explanation of materiality is testimonial in nature, and constitutes evidence of the prejudice incurred as a result of the deportation, it should be verified by oath or affirmation of either the defendant or his attorney. See Fed.Rule Evid. 603; Fed.Rule Crim.Proc. 47.
As in other cases concerning the loss of material evidence, sanctions will be warranted for deportation of alien witnesses chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
only if there is a reasonable likelihood that the testimony could have affected the judgment of the trier of fact. See Giglio v. United States, 405 U. S. 150, 405 U. S. 154 (1972). In making such a determination, courts should afford some leeway for the fact that the defendant necessarily proffers a description of the material evidence, rather than the evidence itself. Because determinations of materiality are often best made in light of all of the evidence adduced at trial, judges may wish to defer ruling on motions until after the presentation of evidence. [Footnote 10]
647 F.2d 74 (citation and footnotes omitted).
Ibid. (citation omitted). Other Courts of Appeals have recognized the Ninth Circuit rule as requiring no showing of prejudice, United States v. Calzada, 579 F.2d 1362, and as permitting dismissal of the indictment even when the
United States v. Avila-Dominguez, 610 F.2d 1269-1270 (quoting United States v. Mendez-Rodriguez, 450 F.2d 1, 6 (CA9 1971) (Kilkenny, J., dissenting)).
That the Sixth Amendment does not guarantee criminal defendants the right to compel the attendance of any and all witnesses is reflected in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rule 17(b) requires the Government to subpoena witnesses on behalf of indigent defendants, but only "upon a satisfactory showing . . . that the presence of the witness is necessary to an adequate defense." See also Isaac v. United States, 159 U. S. 487, 159 U. S. 489 (1895); Crumpton v. United States, 138 U. S. 361, 138 U. S. 364-365 (1891).
The counsel of United States v. Agurs, 427 U. S. 97, 427 U. S. 112-113 (1976), is helpful here:
I concur in the judgment of the Court essentially for the reasons set forth by Judge Roney, in writing for a panel of the former Fifth Circuit, in United States v. Avila-Dominguez, 610 F.2d 1266, 1269-1270, cert. denied sub nom. Perez v. United States, 449 U.S. 887 (1980). At least a "plausible theory" of how the testimony of the deported witnesses would be helpful to the defense must be offered. None was advanced here; therefore, the motion to dismiss the indictment was properly denied by the District Court. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Washington v. Texas, 388 U. S. 14, 388 U. S. 19 (1967). In short, the right to compulsory process is essential to a fair trial. Today's decision, I fear, may not protect adequately the interests of the prosecution and the defense in a fair trial, and may encourage litigation over whether the defendant has made a "plausible showing that the testimony of the deported witnesses would have been material and favorable to his defense." Ante at 458 U. S. 873. A preferable approach would be to accommodate both the Government's interest in prompt deportation of illegal aliens and the defendant's need to interview alien witnesses in order to decide which of them can provide material evidence for the defense. Through a suitable standard, imposed on the federal courts under our supervisory powers, a practical accommodation can be reached without any increase in litigation.
One cannot discount the importance of the Federal Government's role in the regulation of immigration. [Footnote 2/1] As the Court points out, Congress and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the agency authorized to make such policy decisions, chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
have decided that prompt deportation is the appropriate response to the tremendous influx of illegal aliens. Ante at 458 U. S. 864. The Court is also correct that the Federal Government has legitimate reasons for reducing the number of illegal aliens detained for possible use as material witnesses. Particularly because most of the detained aliens are never called to testify, we should be careful not to permit either needless human suffering or excessive burdens on the Federal Government. Under these circumstances, courts should be especially circumspect about interfering with congressional judgments.
Nevertheless, the constitutional obligation of the Executive to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed," U.S.Const., Art. II, § 3, including the immigration laws, does not lessen the importance of affording the defendant the "fundamental fairness" inherent in due process, Lisenba v. California, 314 U. S. 219, 314 U. S. 236 (1941). Moreover, the defendant's express right in the Sixth Amendment to compel the testimony of "witnesses in his favor," requires recognition of the importance, both to the individual defendant and to the integrity of the criminal justice system, of permitting the defendant the opportunity to interview eyewitnesses to the alleged crime. A governmental policy of deliberately putting potential defense witnesses beyond the reach of compulsory process is not easily reconciled with the spirit of the Compulsory Process Clause.
The Court's solution to this apparent conflict between the Executive's duty to enforce the immigration laws and its duty not to impair the defendant's rights to due process and compulsory process is to permit the Government to deport potential alien witnesses, and to put the burden on the defendant of making a plausible showing that the deported aliens would have provided material and relevant evidence. The Court's approach thus permits the Government to make chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
As the Court poses the issue today, the only alternatives are either to (1) permit routine deportation of witnesses and require the defendant to make some showing of prejudice, or (2) delay deportation so that defense counsel can interview the potential witnesses, and provide for automatic dismissal of the indictment if the witnesses are deported. There is, however, another alternative that would avoid unduly burdening either the Government or the defendant. The Court could require that deportation of potential alien witnesses be delayed for a very brief interval to allow defense counsel, as well as the Government, to interview them. That approach is somewhat similar to the Ninth Circuit's practice, originally described in United States v. Mendez-Rodriguez, 450 F.2d 1 (1971). Under the holding in that case, illegal alien witnesses were held in custody for a short period, an average of five days, following the appointment of counsel. During that time, defense counsel had the opportunity to interview the witnesses and determine whether any of them might provide material and relevant evidence. Following the interviews, a Federal Magistrate held a hearing to determine whether any of the witnesses could provide material evidence, and ordered deportation of those aliens who could not provide such testimony. On those occasions when the Government nevertheless deported potential witnesses before the materiality hearing was held, the District Court determined whether the deported witnesses could have been of some "conceivable benefit" to the defendant. If the defendant met that standard, the court dismissed the indictment. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The principal difficulty with the Ninth Circuit's approach was, as the Court notes, ante at 458 U. S. 866-867, that it required virtually no evidence that the deported witness' testimony would have been material to the defense. Under the Ninth Circuit's formulation, the Government's deportation of an alien witness resulted in virtually an automatic dismissal of the indictment.
The standard I propose is an amalgam of the approaches used by the Fifth and Ninth Circuits. [Footnote 2/2] As a matter of course, the deportable aliens who are potential witnesses should be detained for a very brief period to afford Government chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Article I, § 8, cl. 4, states that Congress shall have the power "To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization." See Mathews v. Diaz, 426 U. S. 67, 426 U. S. 81 (1976) ("For reasons long recognized as valid, the responsibility for regulating the relationship between the United States and our alien visitors has been committed to the political branches of the Federal Government"); Galvan v. Press, 347 U. S. 522, 347 U. S. 531 (1954) ("that the formulation of [immigration] policies is entrusted exclusively to Congress has become about as firmly imbedded in the legislative and judicial tissues of our body politic as any aspect of our government").
This Court has not hesitated to use its supervisory power over federal courts to set standards to ensure the fair administration of justice. For example, in McCarthy v. United States, 394 U. S. 459, 394 U. S. 468-472 (1969), this Court, under its supervisory power, held that, when a district court does not comply fully with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 in accepting a guilty plea, the plea must be set aside and the case remanded for the defendant to enter a new plea. The Court expressly rejected the rule, adopted by some Circuits, of holding a hearing to determine whether the defendant had entered his plea voluntarily with an understanding of the charge. See also Marshall v. United States, 360 U. S. 310, 360 U. S. 313 (1959) (using this Court's "supervisory power to formulate and apply proper standards for enforcement of the criminal law in the federal courts" in setting aside a criminal conviction because several jurors had read inadmissible news accounts of the defendant's past activities).
Today's holding flaunts a transparent contradiction. On the one hand, the Court recognizes respondent's constitutional right, under the Compulsory Process Clause of the Sixth Amendment, to the production of all witnesses whose testimony would be relevant and material to his defense. Ante at 458 U. S. 867-869. But on the other hand, the Court holds chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
that the Government may deport illegal alien eyewitnesses to respondent's alleged crime immediately upon their apprehension, before respondent or his attorney have had any opportunity to interview them -- thus depriving respondent of the surest and most obvious means by which he could establish the materiality and relevance of such witnesses' testimony. Ante at 458 U. S. 872-873. Truly, the Court giveth, and the Court taketh away. But surely a criminal defendant has a constitutional right to interview eyewitnesses to his alleged crime before they are whisked out of the country by his prosecutor. The Court's decision today makes a mockery of that right. Accordingly, I dissent.
ante at 458 U. S. 872; this governmental power is conditioned only upon the Executive's "good faith determination" that those witnesses possess "no evidence favorable to the defendant in a criminal prosecution," ibid. The Court sets up this asserted "responsibility" of the Executive Branch as a counterweight to its responsibility for "apprehending and obtaining the conviction of those who have violated criminal statutes of the United States." Ante at 458 U. S. 863. Thus, the Court presents this case as involving a governmental "dilemma," ante at 458 U. S. 865, in which the Executive Branch is caught between the conflicting demands of its "dual responsibility," ante at 458 U. S. 864. This supposed "dilemma" is a pure figment of the Court's imagination, repudiated by our precedents and by common sense.
The Executive Branch has many responsibilities, any of which may conflict with its duty to enforce the federal criminal law. For example, the Executive Branch has an obvious and imperative obligation to preserve the national security. But when the Executive Branch chooses to prosecute a violation of federal law, it incurs a constitutional responsibility manifestly superior to its other duties: namely, the responsibility chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
This point is hardly a novel one. In Jencks v. United States, 353 U. S. 657 (1957), we noted that "the protection of vital national interests may militate against public disclosure of documents in the Government's possession." Id. at 353 U. S. 670. But at the same time we noticed:
Id. at 353 U. S. 671, quoting United States v. Reynolds, 345 U. S. 1, 345 U. S. 12 (1953). We also quoted with approval from the opinion of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in United States v. Andolschek, 142 F.2d 503 (1944), in which Judge Learned Hand said:
Id. at 506. [Footnote 3/1]
Of course, the Government's duty to enforce the immigration laws should not be deferred indefinitely. But no inordinate delay is necessary in cases such as the one before us. The Southern District of California long ago adopted a procedure to enforce the Mendez-Rodriguez doctrine announced by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1971. [Footnote 3/2] The Southern District's procedure represents a practical and sensitive accommodation between a criminal defendant's constitutional rights under the Compulsory Process Clause and the Government's policy of prompt deportation of illegal aliens. Under that procedure, illegal alien eyewitnesses are chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The Court suggests that a criminal defendant should be able to "demonstrate either the presence or absence of the required materiality" even without having had an opportunity to interview the detained eyewitnesses. Ante at 458 U. S. 871. But this notion has been flatly rejected by our precedents. Roviaro v. United States, 353 U. S. 53 (1957), denied the Government's claimed privilege to withhold the identity of its informer, "John Doe," from the petitioner. [Footnote 3/3] Roviaro, like respondent in the present case, was "present throughout the commission of this crime." Ante at 458 U. S. 871; see 353 U.S. at 353 U. S. 64 ("So far as [Roviaro] knew, he and John Doe were alone and unobserved during the crucial occurrence for which he was chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
indicted"). But the Court in Roviaro refused to say, as the Court does today, that a criminal defendant "can establish no Sixth Amendment violation without making some plausible explanation of the assistance he would have received from the testimony" that he seeks. Ante at 458 U. S. 871. Rather, the Court in Roviaro required disclosure simply because John Doe's testimony "might have been helpful to the defense." 353 U.S. at 353 U. S. 63-64 (emphasis added).
"Doe had helped to set up the criminal occurrence and had played a prominent part in it. His testimony might have disclosed an entrapment. He might have thrown doubt upon petitioner's identity or the identity of the package [of heroin]. He was the only witness who might have testified to petitioner's possible lack of knowledge of the contents of the package that he 'transported' . . . to John Doe's car. The desirability of calling John Doe as a witness, or at least interviewing him in preparation for trial, was a matter for the accused, rather than the Government, to decide."
Id. at 353 U. S. 64 (emphasis added). Like Doe in Roviaro, the illegal aliens deported by the Government in the present case "played a prominent part" in respondent's alleged offense -- if, indeed, they did not help to set it up without the knowledge of respondent. And they, like Doe, might have testified to respondent's "possible lack of knowledge" respecting essential elements of the crime charged against him. [Footnote 3/4] Under Roviaro, respondent, not the chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
See United States v. Beekman, 155 F.2d 580, 583-584 (CA2 1946). See also United States v. Burr, 25 F.Cas. 187, 191 (No. 14,694) (CC Va. 1807) ("If this might be likened to a civil case, the law is express on the subject. It is that either party may require the other to produce books or writings in their possession or power, which contain evidence pertinent to the issue. . . . [I]f the order be disobeyed by the plaintiff, judgment as in the case of a nonsuit may be entered against him"); United States v. Nixon, 418 U. S. 683, 418 U. S. 709 (1974) ("To ensure that justice is done, it is imperative to the function of courts that compulsory process be available for the production of evidence needed either by the prosecution or the defense").
Roviaro represented an exercise of our supervisory jurisdiction. See McCray v. Illinois, 386 U. S. 300, 386 U. S. 309 (1967). But as the Court concedes, ante at 458 U. S. 870, Roviaro would not have been decided differently if the Due Process and Confrontation Clause claims implicit in that case had been brought to the fore.
In order to obtain a conviction under 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2), quoted ante at 458 U. S. 860, n. 1, the Government was required to show (1) that respondent transported an alien within the United States (2) that the alien had not been lawfully admitted or was not lawfully entitled to enter, (3) that this was known to respondent, (4) that respondent knew that the alien's last entry was within three years, and (5) that respondent acted willfully in furtherance of the alien's violation of the law. United States v. Gonzalez-Hernandez, 534 F.2d 1353, 1354 (CA9 1976). Since the third and fourth elements of this statutory requirement bear upon respondent's state of mind, it is plain that the illegal aliens whom respondent was transporting might very well have been able to testify to his lack of knowledge on these critical points.