Court Opinion

ID: 9956404
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-02 00:00:39.233235+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:16:02.068662
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-50606           Document: 61-1         Page: 1      Date Filed: 04/01/2024

          United States Court of Appeals
               for the Fifth Circuit                                          United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                       Fifth Circuit
                                  ____________                                       FILED
                                                                                  April 1, 2024
                                   No. 23-50606
                                                                                  Lyle W. Cayce
                                 Summary Calendar
                                                                                       Clerk
                                 ____________

United States of America,

                                                                   Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                         versus

Carlos Guillermo Leon-Hernandez,

                                           Defendant—Appellant.
                  ______________________________

                  Appeal from the United States District Court
                       for the Western District of Texas
                           USDC No. 3:22-CR-1835-1
                  ______________________________

Before Davis, Ho, and Ramirez, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
      Carlos Guillermo Leon-Hernandez was convicted of conspiracy to
transport aliens and the transportation of aliens.                 On appeal, Leon-
Hernandez challenges the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained
following his detention by border patrol agents. He argues that the district

      _____________________
      *
          This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-50606        Document: 61-1        Page: 2   Date Filed: 04/01/2024

                                 No. 23-50606

court erred in determining the moment he was seized and that agents lacked
reasonable suspicion for the seizure.
       Whether a person has been seized or detained under the Fourth
Amendment is a factual finding that is reviewed for clear error. United States
v. Mask, 330 F.3d 330, 334-35 (5th Cir. 2003). “Whether law enforcement
has reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop is a legal conclusion
that is reviewed de novo.” United States v. Alvarez, 40 F.4th 339, 344 (5th
Cir. 2022). We generally defer to factfinders who hear live testimony and
uphold the district court’s ruling if there is any reasonable view of the
evidence supporting it. See United States v. Wright, 57 F.4th 524, 530 (5th
Cir. 2023). In light of the evidence and all the circumstances surrounding the
incident, we cannot say that the district court clearly erred in determining
that Leon-Hernandez was seized when an agent demanded his car keys, as
prior to that, there was not a sufficient show of authority to constitute
detention. See Wright, 57 F.4th at 530-32.
       Next, we consider whether the totality of the circumstances supports
a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity justifying the seizure. See Alvarez,
40 F.4th at 345. We conclude there was no error, given the fictitious paper
license plate on Leon-Hernandez’s vehicle; an agent’s knowledge, from his
experience with the Border Patrol, that vehicles with alien smuggling loads
often used fictitious paper license plates; the tip from a confidential source,
whom the agent had known for 12 or 13 years, about unknown people coming
and going at a specific address late at night; the agent’s knowledge that the
area where the residence was located had a large number of stash houses for
alien smuggling schemes; and the observation of four people in the back seat
of Leon-Hernandez’s vehicle, which generally had capacity for only three.
       AFFIRMED.

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