Opinion ID: 305083
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: monje's appeal.

Text: 14 Appellant Monje asserts three errors on this appeal, which may be combined, as the government suggests, into one question: was there probable cause to search the unattended truck parked at the side of a California highway on May 24, 1971, without a warrant. We hold there was probable cause. 15 Each defendant joined in the pre-trial motion to suppress the evidence, i. e., the marijuana and Monje's confession. 16 The government, on May 3, 1971, received evidence from a previously reliable informant (15 prosecutions over a three year period) that certain marijuana dealers in Mexicali were building compartments into the front wall of several trucks which would later be used to smuggle marijuana into the United States. This informant had seen two of the trucks being so modified, and described them by type, size, make, year, having an aluminum van, and partial license plate description. One was described with a specific license number. 17 Such a truck was stopped and searched on May 13, 1971, after crossing the border into the United States, and 478 kilograms of marijuana was found in such a hidden panel. Between May 13, 1971, and May 24, 1971, two more such trucks were seized, both carrying marijuana in the described compartments. 18 On May 24, 1971, government agents saw a truck similar in make, color, size, year model, and with an aluminum van parked in a rest area at Guatay, California, a location above described. It had Mexican license plates. 19 No driver was about, and the government agents looked into the van of the truck, which view indicated the curvature of the outside of the van was not similar to the inside, and appearance similar to that of the truck seized on May 13, 1971. Pounding on the outside right front of the van sounded solid, while that on the left front sounded hollow. Measurements of the interior of the van, compared with the exterior, disclosed a compartment. Some insulation under the truck was pushed aside, and kilo bricks of marijuana were revealed. 20 The trial judge, in denying the motion to suppress, found there was ample, more than ample probable cause for what was done-the search. 21 A search of an auto which can readily be moved quickly is different than a search of a house. Chambers v. Maroney, 399 U.S. 42, 48, 90 S.Ct. 1975, 26 L.Ed.2d 419 (1970); Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543 (1925) 153-154; Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949); Glavin v. United States, 396 F.2d 725, 728 (9th Cir. 1968); Gilbert v. United States, 366 F.2d 923 (9th Cir.1966); Boyden v. United States, 363 F.2d 551, 554 (9th Cir.1966); Hernandez v. United States, 353 F.2d 624, 627 (9th Cir.1965); and see dissent in United States v. Almeida-Sanchez, 452 F.2d 459, 462-463 (9th Cir. 1971). We do not find the case of United States v. Payne, 429 F.2d 169 (9th Cir.1970) apposite on its facts in any respect. 22 We agree probable cause existed for a search. The conviction of defendant Monje is affirmed.