United States v. Marquez
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
410 F.3d 612 (2005)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
Sergio Marquez (defendant) was an airline passenger who was randomly selected for additional security screening at the airport. As a result, after Marquez walked through a standing magnetometer, a federal screener conducted an additional search by scanning Marquez’s body with a more sensitive, handheld magnetometer wand. The wand alerted near Marquez’s hip. The screener attempted to touch that part of Marquez’s body to determine what had triggered the alert, but Marquez swatted the screener’s hand away after brief contact. However, in that brief contact, the screener thought he felt a hard object that would be consistent with a brick of plastic explosives. After further search efforts, Marquez revealed that the object was a brick of cocaine, not plastic explosives. Marquez was then arrested and charged with intending to distribute the cocaine. Marquez moved to suppress the evidence of the cocaine, arguing that the airport’s random search was unreasonable and violated Marquez’s rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The district court denied the motion, and Marquez appealed the denial.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Tallman, J.)
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