Opinion ID: 439164
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: founded suspicion

Text: 3 A joint motion to suppress certain of the prosecution's evidence was predicated upon the contention that the law enforcement officers were without legal authority to stop and detain a van being driven by Medina-Gasca and containing undocumented aliens as passengers. The motion was denied by the District Court on the basis that the officers possessed founded suspicion to stop the vehicle. If, when the van was stopped, the officers were aware of adequate facts and circumstances upon which to base a reasonable or founded suspicion that the vehicle was being utilized in criminal activity, United States v. Espinoza, 578 F.2d 224, 228 (9th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom., Oropeza-Briones v. United States, 439 U.S. 849, 99 S.Ct. 151, 58 L.Ed.2d 151 (1978); United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873, 881, 95 S.Ct. 2574, 2580, 45 L.Ed.2d 607 (1975), the investigatory stop of the van was justified. The district judge held that there were such adequate facts and circumstances and these are set forth in the prosecution's brief as follows: 4 1. Pala Temecula Road is a notorious route for circumventing the Interstate 5 checkpoint. 5 2. The two vans and a blue sedan had been observed by the security officer traveling close together on Pala Road. 6 3. The two vans appeared heavily laden with possible illegal aliens. 7 4. Smith later observed the vans and the sedan parked bumper-to-bumper under a streetlight. 8 5. When Smith approached the vehicles in his marked patrol unit, the three vehicles quickly dispersed, with the sedan and one van making a U-turn in tandem. 9 6. Smith later saw the three vehicles traveling very close together, once again in a northernly (sic) direction, on Pala-Temecula Road. Smith telephoned the Border Patrol Checkpoint. 10 7. Agents situated on Pala-Temecula Road later observed three vehicles traveling in tandem for approximately 2-3 miles. 11 8. The three vehicles matched the description provided by Smith, the security officer. 12 9. The vans were observed to be riding low as if heavily loaded. 13 10. The agents recognized that all three vehicles were not a part of local traffic. 14 We cannot conscientiously hold that the District Court was incorrect in concluding, upon the basis of the above facts, that founded suspicion for the stop was established.