Opinion ID: 3030141
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: framework for analysis—federal law governs

Text: THE REASONABLENESS OF THE SEIZURE [4] We start with the proposition that “[t]he general rule . . . is that evidence will only be excluded in federal court when it violates federal protections, such as those contained in the Fourth Amendment, and not in cases where it is tainted solely under state law.” United States v. Cormier, 220 F.3d 1103, 1111 (9th Cir. 2000). We have extended this principle to the context of tribal law, holding that the admissibility of evidence in federal court is determined without regard to tribal law. Male Juvenile, 280 F.3d at 1023 (“[W]e reject the contention that tribal law should govern the admissibility of statements in federal court. Federal law governs federal proceedings.”); see also United States v. Hornbeck, 118 F.3d 615, 617 (8th Cir. 1997) (“Federal, not tribal or state, law governs the admissibility of evidence” in the district court). UNITED STATES v. BECERRA-GARCIA 1451 [5] For many years, we left unresolved the question whether state or federal law governed the reasonableness of seizures, see, e.g., United States v. Clawson, 831 F.2d 909, 913 (9th Cir. 1987) (holding that the stop of a car was permissible regardless of whether state or federal law applied); United States v. Contreras-Diaz, 575 F.2d 740, 744 (9th Cir. 1978) (holding the federal and state tests to be the same), but we have now firmly come down on the side that the reasonableness of a seizure depends exclusively on federal law.3 In the oft-cited case of United States v. Chavez-Vernaza, 844 F.2d 1368 (9th Cir. 1987), we held that “evidence seized in compliance with federal law is admissible without regard to state law.” Id. at 1374; see also United States v. Bynum, 362 F.3d 574, 582-83 (9th Cir. 2004). Of particular significance to the resolution of this case is the well-established proposition that an arrest in violation of state law may still be constitutionally reasonable. Barry v. Fowler, 902 F.2d 770, 773 (9th Cir. 1990) (no Fourth Amendment violation in § 1983 case when plaintiff arrested in violation of a state law). In Barry, we observed that “[w]hile Barry may have a remedy under state law, she has failed to allege a federal constitutional . . . violation.” Id.4 3 We have not deemed state law wholly irrelevant to Fourth Amendment analysis. Our precedent supports at least two exceptions to the principle that compliance with state law does not determine constitutional reasonableness, searches incident to arrest and inventory searches. See Cormier, 220 F.3d at 1111-12 (reasonableness of search incident to arrest depends on legality of arrest under state law and reasonableness of inventory search depends on compliance with state and local procedures). The stop of Becerra-Garcia does not fall under either of these exceptions, nor does the federal test for its validity incorporate state or tribal law. BecerraGarcia was the subject of an investigatory traffic stop, the reasonableness of which depends only on reasonable suspicion, not on compliance with state or tribal law. See Haynie v. County of Los Angeles, 339 F.3d 1071, 1075 (9th Cir. 2003) (investigatory stops require only reasonable suspicion). 4 We acknowledge some inconsistency in our cases on this broad issue. See, e.g., Bingham v. City of Manhattan Beach, 341 F.3d 939, 950 (9th 1452 UNITED STATES v. BECERRA-GARCIA We note that the question of whether and how state law affects the constitutional reasonableness of a seizure has long troubled courts and has produced inconsistent results. See Santoni v. Potter, 369 F.3d 594, 598 (1st Cir. 2004) (stating that the circuits are split on whether “an arresting officer’s lack of authority under state or federal law to conduct an otherwise constitutionally valid arrest constitutes an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment”); Jackson v. Louisiana, 980 F.2d 1009, 1011 n.9 (5th Cir. 1993) (citing conflicting cases to show that whether the unauthorized use of police powers violates the Fourth Amendment is unresolved). The weight of authority establishes that the test of whether a search or seizure violates the Fourth Amendment “is one of federal law, neither enlarged by what one state court may have countenanced, nor diminished by what another may have colorably suppressed.” Elkins v. United States, 364 U.S. 206, 224 (1960); see also Cooper v. California, 386 U.S. 58, 61 (1967) (whether a search is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment is a different question than whether a seizure was authorized by state law). Accordingly, we and several of our sister circuits have declined to consider state law in determining the reasonableness of seizures. See United States v. Bell, 54 F.3d 502, 504 (8th Cir. 1995) (“[W]e do not think Fourth Amendment analysis requires reference to an arrest’s legality under state law . . . . An arrest by state officers is reasonable in the Fourth Amendment sense if it is based on probable cause.”); Fields v. City of South Houston, 922 F.2d 1183, 1189 (5th Cir. 1991) (“[A] civil rights action [under § 1983] Cir. 2003) (“in evaluating a custodial arrest executed by state officials, federal courts must determine the reasonableness of the arrest in reference to state law governing the arrest”) (internal quotation marks omitted); Pierce v. Multnomah County, 76 F.3d 1032, 1041 (9th Cir. 1996) (holding, in a § 1983 case, that city policy that authorized officers to detain people for nonarrestable offenses violated state law and therefore violated the Fourth Amendment); Reed v. Hoy, 891 F.2d 1421, 1427 n.5 (9th Cir. 1990) (stating that state law is often relevant in analyzing the reasonableness of police conduct). UNITED STATES v. BECERRA-GARCIA 1453 will not lie for a warrantless misdemeanor arrest in violation of state law.”); Chavez-Vernaza, 844 F.2d at 1374 (“evidence seized in compliance with federal law is admissible without regard to state law”); Street v. Surdyka, 492 F.2d 368, 372 (4th Cir. 1974) (“Even if Officer Surdyka violated Maryland arrest law, he cannot be liable under section 1983 unless he also violated the federal constitutional law governing warrantless arrests.”).