Unpublished Disposition, 902 F.2d 1580 (9th Cir. 1989)

MEMORANDUM^* 

Manuel Arellano-Servin entered a conditional plea of guilty to an information charging him with possession of an identification document of another, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1028(a) (4) and 1028(b) (3). He appeals the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence. We reverse the district court's decision and grant the motion to suppress evidence.

FACTS

On January 14, 1989, off-duty police officers Carlos Miranda and Robert Rutledge were working in plain clothes in an area in San Ysidro, California which was known for "wildcatting." "Wildcatting" is the sale of transportation over California's public highways without a valid license or permit. Cal.Penal Code Sec. 654.1 (Deering 1983).

At about 11:55 a.m., the officers observed two males seated in the front seat of a car at a motel parking lot. The man in the driver's seat was Martinez, and the man in the passenger seat was appellant Arellano. They were looking down at something in the area between them. When the officers passed the front of the car, the two men looked toward them and immediately sat straight up. The officers, who were about fifteen feet from the car, saw Martinez reach over to the center of the front seat and move an unidentified object from the area to his front jacket pocket. Officer Miranda had seen one of the men in the area on a previous occasion.

The officers stopped and frisked Martinez and Arellano. Pursuant to the search, the officers found a wallet full of laminated identification cards, and photographs of other individuals in the front seat of the car and in the bushes.

ANALYSIS

The officers did not have a particularized and objective basis to stop and question Arellano pursuant to Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 21 (1968). The officers were in plain clothes. Martinez and Arellano's startled reaction to two casually dressed men passing the front of their car in an area known for wildcatting does not constitute reasonable suspicion that the two men were engaged in wildcatting. Since the officers did not have reasonable suspicion to stop the two men, the subsequent frisk was unjustified and the laminated cards and photographs found as a result of the search must be suppressed.

Motion to suppress evidence GRANTED.