United States v. Cooley, No. 17-30022 (9th Cir. 2019)
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The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained when a tribal officer twice searched defendant's truck. The officer initially pulled up behind the truck, which was parked on the side of the highway, to see if defendant and his young child needed assistance.
The panel could not agree that the officer appropriately determined that defendant was a non-Indian just by looking at him. The panel held that the officer acted outside of his jurisdiction as a tribal officer when he detained defendant, a non-Indian, and searched his vehicle without first making any attempt to determine whether defendant was in fact an Indian.
The panel held that the exclusionary rule applies in federal court prosecutions to evidence obtained in violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act's (ICRA) Fourth Amendment counterpart. The panel also held that a tribal officer does not necessarily conduct an unreasonable search or seizure for ICRA purposes when he acts beyond his tribal jurisdiction. However, tribal authority consideration is highly pertinent to determining whether a search or seizure is unreasonable under the ICRA. In this case, the officer violated the ICRA Fourth Amendment analogue by seizing defendant, a non-Indian, while operating outside the Crow Tribe's jurisdiction.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel affirmed the district court’s order granting a motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of the defendant’s encounter with a Crow Indian Reservation police officer while the defendant’s truck was parked on the shoulder of United States Route 212, which is a public right- of-way that crosses the Reservation. The panel held that the district court’s holding regarding the officer’s lack of authority was correct, but the basis for its conclusion — that the defendant “seemed to be non- Native” — was not. The panel explained that officers cannot presume for jurisdictional purposes that a person is a non- Indian — or an Indian — by making assumptions based on physical appearance. The panel wrote that an officer can rely on a detainee’s response when asking about Indian status, but that the officer posed no such question to the defendant. The panel held that the officer exceeded his authority as a tribal officer on a public, nontribal highway crossing a reservation when he detained the defendant and twice searched the truck without having ascertained whether the defendant was an Indian. The panel held that the exclusionary rule applies in federal court prosecutions to evidence obtained in violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act’s Fourth Amendment counterpart.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on January 24, 2020.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on July 14, 2021.
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