W.D.Tex.: Cell phone search at border crossing was by consent

Defendant was a regular at the Americas bridge port of entry at El Paso being a community college student and an El Paso Walmart employee. One time, he rejected sending his car through the x-ray machine, and his cell phone was inspected, allegedly as a part of the border search or consent. It was found to be by consent. He was held for a while in detention, and that was reasonable. United States v. Ramirez, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128853 (W.D. Tex. Aug. 1, 2019)*:

In sum, the Court determines that suppression of the contents of Defendant’s cell phone is inappropriate. First, the initial search of Defendant’s cell phone by Officer Saucedo in secondary inspection was lawful because Defendant voluntarily consented to the search. Second, the subsequent searches of Defendant’s cell phone after he was placed in the holding cell were supported by at least reasonable suspicion and were therefore lawful pursuant to the border search exception. Alternatively, suppression of the fruits of the subsequent searches is inappropriate because the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies. Finally, regarding Defendant’s Fifth Amendment claim, Defendant fails to identify any specific statement made in response to any specific interrogation; thus, the Court denies Defendant’s broad motion to suppress pursuant to the Fifth Amendment.

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