January 26th, 2019

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US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
United States v. Freeman

Docket: 17-40739
Opinion Date: January 25, 2019
Judge: James Earl Graves, Jr.
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of defendant's motion to suppress evidence from the first stop of his truck and denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence from the second stop of his truck. In this case, defendant was stopped twice over the course of several months while driving his truck along Farm-to-Market Road 2050 near the Texas-Mexico border, once by a county deputy and once by a U.S. Border Patrol Agent. Defendant was charged with conspiracy to transport an illegal alien within the United States and transportation of an alien within the United States for financial gain. The court applied the Brignoni-Ponce factors and held that the district court's conclusion that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to conduct the roving patrol stop was supported by the evidence.

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