April 29th, 2017

​U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
United States v. Broca-Martinez

Docket: 16-40817
Opinion Date: April 28, 2017
Judge: Edward C. Prado
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The court affirmed the denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained from an initial stop, holding that a state computer database indication of insurance status may establish reasonable suspicion when the officer was familiar with the database and the system itself was reliable. Officers initially stopped defendant after a computer search lead to the discovery that he was in the country illegally and was harboring undocumented immigrants at his residence. Defendant conditionally plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport undocumented aliens. In this case, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, the officer's testimony provided sufficient support for the reliability of the database where the officer explained the process for inputting license plate information, described how records in the database were kept, and noted that he was familiar with these records.