Opinion ID: 168758
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Checkpoint Stop

Text: On February 16, 2005, Border Patrol Agent Daniel Romero was on duty at the Interstate 25 checkpoint located north of Las Cruces, New M exico, when a gray Honda Accord with Oklahoma plates drove through the checkpoint. Agent Romero yelled at M r. Gates, the driver, to stop. M r. Gates was traveling from Arizona with his friend Juan Yanez. After M r. Gates stopped the car, Border Patrol Agent Florencio M ontellano’s drug-detecting canine alerted to the trunk of the car. Agent Romero asked M r. Gates if he was carrying anything in the trunk, and M r. Gates replied he was not. M r. Gates consented to a search of the trunk. W hen Agent M ontellano opened the trunk, he testified that a strong odor of m arijuana w as present. A gent M ontellano found three bundles of marijuana, tw o inside a duffel bag. The duffel bag was inscribed with “Gates, U.S.M .C., United States M arine Corps.” Rec. vol. III, Tr. at 26-27. The agents also found a loaded .357 magnum revolver in the trunk. -2- At the time of his arrest, M r. Gates was a cadet in the University of Oklahoma A rmy ROTC program. He had served in the United States M arine Corps, was about to start on another military career as an officer in the Army. Having completed the Reserve Officer Training Program, he was to start Officer Training School on April 11, 2005. M r. Gates, who had been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the A rmy on December 17, 2004, wore his military camouflage uniform, although he was neither on military orders nor on the Army’s payroll at the time of the arrest. M r. Gates was employed part-time as a security guard. According to his testimony, he was scheduled to stop that job and to go on active duty in the Army on February 21, working as a campus recruiter.