Opinion ID: 754070
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Facts of the Present Case

Text: 28 On November 14, 1996, at approximately 5:30 a.m., U.S. Border Patrol Agents Arnoldo Diaz and Elma Reyna were parked in a marked car under a street light along F.M. 649 at the intersection of Highway 16, about 30 miles north of the Mexican border in Texas. According to the agents, this area was notorious for smuggling activities, although the Border Patrol had not patrolled it for the previous six months, due to manpower shortages. 29 A white utility vehicle driving north on F.M. 649, from the direction of the border and several border towns, stopped at the intersection directly in front of the agents' vehicle. The utility vehicle contained a tool compartment large enough for a person to fit inside, similar to other compartments in which Agent Diaz had discovered and arrested illegal aliens in the past. The agents, whose Border Patrol vehicle was already in plain view, turned their headlights on the vehicle, but Nichols, the driver, stared straight ahead and did not look at them or in the direction that he eventually turned. Instead, Nichols merely continued to stare straight ahead, into the brush, without looking down the road either to the left or the right. 30 At the hearing on Nichols' motion to suppress, Agent Diaz testified that, although utility vehicles were not unusual in the area, this vehicle looked suspicious because it was unusually clean and did not appear to have been driven off the road at a ranch or job site, did not bear any company logos (although it did have a How's My Driving sticker with an 800 number, which indicated that it was a commercial vehicle), and was on the road about half an hour before such vehicles generally appeared. Although Agent Diaz later testified that the time of the vehicle's appearance, by itself, did not raise his suspicions, there was almost no traffic at the time, as the utility truck was only the third vehicle that the agents had seen in 45 minutes. 31 The vehicle remained stationary at the intersection for approximately 25 seconds before turning left onto Highway 16. As stated, the driver stared straight ahead during this time, without looking at the Border Patrol vehicle or down the road in either direction. As the vehicle turned, its right rear tires ran off the road. The agents followed the vehicle, which was moving very slowly, and again observed that one of its right rear tires left the road. Agent Diaz testified that he thought this indicated that the driver was more concerned with whether the agents were following him than he was with the road ahead. 32 A radio check of the vehicle's license plates indicated that the utility vehicle was registered to Fleet Leasing Company in Houston. After following the vehicle for approximately 3/4 of a mile, the agents stopped Nichols for an immigration check. Nichols was driving the vehicle and remained inside as Agent Diaz approached him on the driver's side. Agent Diaz testified that the agents stopped Nichols because it seemed like some kind of illegal activity or something was occurring. Agent Diaz also testified that, as he approached, he detected the odor of marijuana coming from the tool box area in the back of the truck.