Opinion ID: 199911
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admissibility of the Fruits of the October 1993 Search

Text: 17 Finally, Ruckbi contends that since he testified that he did not sign the consent-to-search form until after the INS agents completed their search and, even then, only as a condition precedent to his release from government custody, the IJ violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure by rejecting his section 245 and section 244(c) applications. He argues that the IJ failed to undertake the requisite inquiries into the timeliness and voluntariness of his consent notwithstanding this undisputed evidence. See Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 223, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973). Once again we must disagree. 18 First, the exclusionary rule based in the Fourth Amendment normally does not apply in deportation proceedings. See INS v. Lopez-Mendoza, 468 U.S. 1032, 1042-43, 104 S.Ct. 3479, 82 L.Ed.2d 778 (1984). Nevertheless, INS regulations do contemplate the suppression of illegally seized evidence in cases involving egregious violations of the Fourth Amendment or other liberties that might transgress notions of fundamental fairness and undermine the probative value of the evidence obtained. Id. at 1050-51 & n. 5, 104 S.Ct. 3479 (citing Matter of Toro, 17 I. & N. Dec. 340, 343 (BIA 1980)); see also Velasquez-Tabir v. INS, 127 F.3d 456, 459-60 (5th Cir.1997). However, Ruckbi neither moved to suppress the evidence seized in the search, nor lodged a contemporaneous objection at the time the government proposed to introduce the seized evidence at the hearing before the IJ. Cf., e.g., Gonzalez-Rivera v. INS, 22 F.3d 1441, 1443 (9th Cir.1994) (noting that appellant may submit pre-deportation-hearing motion to suppress evidence seized in search); cf. also United States v. Santos Batista, 239 F.3d 16, 19-20 (1st Cir.2001) (criminal defendant's failure to file pretrial suppression motion normally constitutes waiver of Fourth Amendment challenge). Consequently, neither the validity of Ruckbi's overt consent to the search, nor the alleged egregiousness of the search itself was ever placed squarely at issue. 19 Further, assuming arguendo that the consent issue was adequately presented simply through Ruckbi's testimony that his consent had been untimely and the result of coercion, the record does not support the contention that Ruckbi's testimony was undisputed. Instead, the IJ specifically found that Ruckbi was not a credible witness in any respect, particularly in light of the many instances in which he abruptly and unconvincingly altered his testimony in mid-course. See Selgeka v. Carroll, 184 F.3d 337, 343 (4th Cir.1999) (findings of fact reviewed only for clear error). For instance, Ruckbi initially and repeatedly denied that he had ever consented to the search. Yet when government counsel confronted him with Exhibit 23, the consent form, Ruckbi acknowledged that he had indeed signed it. Given the numerous other testimonial misrepresentations by Ruckbi, the IJ reasonably could conclude that the belated Fourth Amendment challenge was not only groundless, but fabricated. See Lopez-Mendoza, 468 U.S. at 1039, 104 S.Ct. 3479 (A decision of deportability need be based only on `reasonable, substantial and probative evidence.') (citation omitted). 9 20 Affirmed.