S.D.Tex.: Saying in Spanish “allow me to search your car,” rather than “please” was not consensual at immigration checkpoint

Defendant was stopped at the immigration checkpoint at Sarita, Texas. The license plate came back as flagged, so they more closely looked at the vehicle and asked for consent. “The Interpreter at the hearing noted that the Spanish phrase [used by the non-fluent officer] ‘permitame revisar’ does not include the English equivalent of ‘please.’ D.E. 22, p. 32. Defendant provided briefing to support that conclusion, which the Government has not disputed. So the language that the Court is evaluating is the equivalent of ‘allow me to search your car in secondary.’ Defendant argues that the use of ‘allow’ may be polite, but is still an instruction rather than a request for consent. This Court agrees.” United States v. Vasquez-Gutierrez, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11644 (S.D.Tex. February 2, 2015).

The officers had detailed information for probable cause. Assuming there wasn’t probable cause, there clearly was good faith under Leon. United States v. Rosensteel, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10372 (D.Minn. January 8, 2015), adopted 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10561 (D.Minn. January 29, 2015).*