Opinion ID: 204528
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Analysis of the Facts on Which the Agents Relied

Text: The stop in this case was made well over 200 miles from the United States-Mexico border. Proximity to the border is a paramount factor, [9] and a car traveling more than fifty miles from the border is usually viewed as being too far from the border to support an inference that it originated its journey there. [10] If there is no reason to believe that the vehicle came from the border, the remaining factors must be examined charily. [11] We agree with the district court that there is no reason to believe that this truck, traveling east on I-20 more than 200 miles from the border, had originated its journey in Mexico. Therefore, this important factors cuts against the government, so we examine the remaining factors charily. The agents articulated the following facts as supporting their reasonable suspicion: (1) the presence of a piece of brush under Olivares-Pacheco's truck, (2) the pointing by one of the passengers to a field in the opposite direction of the agents, (3) the truck was registered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, (4) the alien-smuggling reputation of this stretch of I-20, and (5) the agents' experience. [12]
The agents theorize that the brush under Olivares-Pacheco's truck was collected while driving off-road, possibly to avoid detection or to cross the border. The physical appearance of a vehicle may add to an agent's reasonable suspicion. We have held, for example, that fresh mud and scratches on a car's tires and exterior may heighten suspicion. [13] In that case, however, the truck was stopped less than fifteen miles from an unmanned border crossing, greatly increasing the likelihood that the mud and scratches were taken on while crossing the border. The instant facts, however, conjure up far less suspicion. Stopped more than 200 miles from the border, Olivares-Pacheco's truck could have picked up the brush in myriad unsuspicious ways. The government concedes that West Odessa is full of brush and that the brush could have been picked up, for example, in a parking lot. The truck could have been off road because the passengers were working; the truck could have pulled off of I-20 to change drivers or take a break; it could have traveled on a service road; it could have picked up brush dropped from another vehicle. Indeed, West Texas is full of brush, and any northerly or southerly wind could have blown brush onto the East-West Interstate. We must also wonder rhetorically about a piece of brush becoming affixed to the bottom of a vehicle and not becoming dislodged during a 200-mile trek from the border. Not only are innocent explanations available, but they are probable. Given that Olivares-Pacheco was stopped on the Interstate so far from the border and that brush could have been picked up in numerous legitimate ways, the fact that the truck was dragging a bit of brush in that part of West Texas generates minimal if any suspicion.
Evidence of suspicious and peculiar activity by the passengers of a vehicle may add to the reasonableness of suspicion. The avoidance of eye contact by passengers, however, is not entitled to any weight. [14] Other actions that attend the avoidance of eye contact may provide some weight, [15] but there is no evidence of any other suspicious activity that attended the avoidance of eye contact in this case. The fact that one of the passengers pointed to an open field does not signify suspicious behavior any more than it constitutes innocent behavior  it is just unremarkable behavior on a road trip. This passenger could have been pointing to anything: an animal, a tree, etc. Indeed, the agents could not even confirm whether this passenger was even aware of their presence; all they saw was one female pointing to an open clearing. This fact provides little to no heft to the government's case.
The truck Olivares-Pacheco was driving was registered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and the agents testified that this is a common destination for those transporting illegal aliens. A vehicle's registration may, under some circumstances, add to reasonable suspicion. We have ruled that a Kansas license plate in Texas may add to reasonable suspicion when it was known that there was a robust drug smuggling trade route to Kansas at the time. [16] We have also held that the fact that a car was registered in San Angelo, yet was taking an indirect route to San Angelo which was less-heavily patrolled, added to reasonable suspicion. [17] The fact that the truck in the instant case was registered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area adds no suspicion whatsoever. It is statistically far more likely that an innocent person who lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area would take an interstate highway to his or her home than would an alien-trafficker. Indeed, the Dallas-Fort Worth area is a huge metropolitan area, and it is more than reasonable to assume that a significant portion of the legitimate traffic traveling east on I-20 from Odessa is headed for that area. The truck was neither headed for a faraway place, nor was it taking some sort of suspicious, indirect route. Rather, Olivares-Pacheco was traveling due east on the most direct route to one of the largest metropolitan areas in Texas, where his truck's registration  presumably like his identification  would indicate is his home. Furthermore, it is a fair assumption that most large areas afford work and anonymity and thus are magnets for illegal aliens For these reasons, the fact that the truck was registered in Garland, Texas provides minimal if any suspicion. Indeed, if every similarly situated vehicle that is registered in Dallas and traveling east on I-20 from Odessa were to be pulled over, traffic would be backed up for untold miles.
A reputation as a route commonly used for transporting illegal aliens may add to the reasonableness of suspicion, even if the road is used for other lawful purposes. This information alone, however, is not sufficient to constitute reasonable suspicion. [18] The agents testified that this stretch of I-20 is commonly used for the transportation of drugs and aliens; however, the overwhelming majority of traffic on this stretch of I-20 is unquestionably legal, and the government has not shown that aliens are more or less likely to use Interstates than back roads. The amount of suspicion added by this evidence, if any, is minimal.
These agents had considerable experience: twelve and seven years, respectively, with four and one-and-a-half years at the Midland border patrol station, respectively. This factor weighs in favor of the government. Absent articulable observations about a vehicle, its operator, its operation, or its cargo, however, experience alone cannot supply reasonable suspicion.
Together, the evidence proffered by the government provides minimal suspicion. Rather, the facts known to the officers at the time of the stop portray an unremarkable and suspicionless situation: (1) This stop occurred over 200 miles from the United States-Mexico border; (2) it occurred on I-20, not a back road or indirect route to Dallas; (3) it did not occur near a checkpoint; (4) it occurred on a Monday at 10:30 A.M., not in the dark of night nor close to a shift-change hour, but at about the most innocuous conceivable hour; (5) the vehicle was headed west-to-east, not south-to-north, away from the border; (6) the vehicle was unremarkable in all respects  it was neither too clean nor too dirty, neither over- nor under-loaded, neither brand new nor ancient, nor did the agents articulate that this was a brand or style known for alien smuggling, etc.; (7) the vehicle was neither speeding nor traveling unusually slow, but at the speed limit, and the agents did not point to a single traffic infraction or driving irregularity committed by the driver or a passenger in the vehicle; (8) Olivares-Pacheco did not exhibit any suspicious driving maneuvers; (9) the vehicle was registered to Olivares-Pacheco's wife in the greater Dallas area, wholly consistent with the truck's direction and eventually claimed destination; (10) the number of persons in the truck  six  was neither illegal nor excessive; (11) other than the claimed furtive pointing to and looking at a field alongside the highway, the passengers did not appear nervous or unusual in any way; none was sitting unusually erect, or slumping, or out of sight, or anything else peculiar; and all six passengers were adults, some male and some female, and not any children to fake family relations; and (12) the agents articulate no explanation whatsoever for their U-turn. Quite simply, none of the evidence we normally credit as indicative of reasonable suspicion (as outlined in detail below) is present in this case. Rather, the truck and the passengers were unremarkable in every respect. Even in combination, the claimed suspicious facts articulated by the agents construct the very slenderest of reeds on which to lean their suspicion.