Opinion ID: 392708
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: effect of unlawful arrest

Text: 32 If the detention of the appellants became an unlawful arrest by reason of the length of time they were detained, 4 it has importance in this case only if the detention during the unlawful period contributed in some fashion to the search and seizure of the narcotics. Since the agents conducted no interrogation of the appellants during the unlawful portion of their detention, the agents gained nothing that they had not already learned during the permissible portion of their detention. Consequently, even assuming the arrest to be unlawful by reason of the detention of the appellants for an excessive period of time, it would not taint the search and seizure of the suitcases. 33 The concept of evaluating evidence in detention cases, depending upon whether evidence was obtained before or after the detention became unlawful, has been clearly recognized in this and other circuits. In United States v. Chamberlin, 644 F.2d 1262 (9th Cir. 1979), the officers made an investigatory stop and asked the suspect several questions. The detention ultimately became an unlawful arrest. Upon motion the court, while excluding the statements made by the defendant after the arrest became unlawful, admitted statements made by the defendant in the early stages of the arrest when its illegality could not be questioned. 34 In United States v. Mayes, 524 F.2d 803 (9th Cir. 1975), the court was considering a border search which was legal in its inception, but which later became an unlawful detention. Acting upon information which they obtained from the suspect when first interrogated, the agents detained the suspect while the original information was being verified. As a result, the agents obtained evidence sufficient to justify the issuance of the search warrant. The court held that even though the lengthy detention of the suspect was illegal, such detention did not taint the seizure of the contraband found as a result of following the lead given by the suspect during the first part of the confrontation when his detention was lawful. In denying the motion to suppress, the court said: 35 ... (E)ven if the detention was unconstitutional, it was unrelated to the discovery of the cache. No evidence gained during Mayes' detention led to the cache of marijuana. The only evidence from Mayes that they relied upon was the shape of his boot print and his improbable story that he was robbed in Tijuana. Both were obtained during the short time approximately five minutes that he was questioned at Jewel Valley Road. Detention for this brief time undoubtedly was justified by Mayes' improbable account of being robbed in Tijuana, Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 20-23 (88 S.Ct. 1868, 1879-1881, 20 L.Ed.2d 889) (1968) (other cites omitted). We conclude that the cache of marijuana was discovered without reliance upon any allegedly illegal police conduct. This discovery produced probable cause for an arrest of Mayes. 36 524 F.2d at 806. 37 In United States v. Klein, 626 F.2d 22 (7th Cir. 1980), the court confronted a factual situation almost identical with the facts before us. Officers having a well founded suspicion detained defendants at an airport and seized their bags. Although the suspects were told they were free to go, subsequent police conduct resulted in what all parties agreed was an unlawful arrest. The bags were detained until a canine narcotic detector was obtained which furnished the basis for a search warrant. The court, in reliance upon Van Leeuwen, held that at the time they decided to detain the bags while waiting for a canine trained in drug detection, the DEA agents had reasonable suspicion to believe that the bags contained contraband; they would have been remiss in not detaining the bags for further investigation.... (T)hey did not search the defendants' luggage until after probable cause had been established and after they had obtained a search warrant, ... 626 F.2d at 26. 38 More recently, the first circuit reached a similar conclusion in United States v. Viegas, 639 F.2d 42 (1st Cir. 1981). The facts in this case are strikingly similar to those in the case before us. In both cases reasonable suspicion existed at the outset, both as to the suspects and their suitcases. In both cases the suspects were not interrogated during the detention of their bags, and in both cases the bags were not opened until a search warrant was obtained after the dog gave positive alert signs indicating the presence of drugs in the bags. Under these facts, the court affirmed the lower court's denial of a motion to suppress. 39 Our ruling here does not erode appellants' right to privacy as protected by the fourth amendment. As the Court pointed out in Van Leeuwen:The only thing done here on the basis of suspicion was detention of the packages. There was at that point no possible invasion of the right 'to be secure' in the 'persons, houses, papers, and effects' protected by the Fourth Amendment against 'unreasonable searches and seizures....' 40 No interest protected by the Fourth Amendment was invaded by forwarding the packages the following day rather than the day when they were deposited. The significant Fourth Amendment interest was in the privacy of this first-class mail; and that privacy was not disturbed or invaded until the approval of the magistrate was obtained. 41 397 U.S. at 252-53, 90 S.Ct. at 1032. 42 Therefore, we hold no fourth amendment right was invaded here for the suitcases were detained upon a well founded suspicion that they contained narcotics, and their detention for approximately twenty minutes awaiting the police dog was not unreasonable. The actual search of the contents of the bags did not occur until after a valid search warrant had been obtained. 43 Accordingly, we affirm.