New Mexico v. Gutierrez
Annotate this CaseDefendant-respondent Aide Sanchez was at the Santa Teresa port of entry attempting to enter the United States from Mexico, when Border Patrol agents seized marijuana from her van. In "New Mexico v. Cardenas-Alvarez," (25 P.3d 225), the New Mexico Supreme Court held that “the New Mexico Constitution and laws apply to evidence seized by federal 8 agents at a border patrol checkpoint [located] sixty miles within the State of New Mexico [(an interior fixed checkpoint)] when that evidence is proffered in state court.” The Court also held that Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution “demands that after a Border Patrol agent has asked about a motorist’s citizenship and immigration status, and has reviewed the motorist’s documents, any further detention requires reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.” Sanchez successfully moved to suppress the evidence seized from her van, arguing that: (1) Cardenas-Alvarez applied at the international border; and (2) seizure of the marijuana violated the New Mexico Constitution because the Border Patrol agents did not have a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to continue to detain her once they had established her citizenship and immigration status. After review, the Supreme Court held that Article II, Section 10 did not afford greater protections at an international border checkpoint because unlike motorists who are stopped at interior border checkpoints, all motorists stopped at international fixed checkpoints are known to be international travelers who are not entitled to the heightened privacy expectations enjoyed by domestic travelers. The Court reversed the district court’s order suppressing the evidence in this case and remanded for further proceedings.
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