CA11: 49 days for presentment to a USMJ after arrest on the high seas of a foreign national wasn’t unreasonable

“In this drug trafficking case under the MDLEA, we too must follow Verdugo-Urquidez and conclude that defendant Guagua-Alarcon, who is a non U.S. citizen and non-U.S. resident, and who has no significant connection to the United States, cannot challenge under the Fourth Amendment and McLaughlin the Coast Guard’s conduct in taking 49 days on the high seas outside of the United States to transport him to Florida for presentment to the magistrate judge. Rather, the correct analytical framework for Guagua-Alarcon’s delay-in presentment challenge is under Rule 5(a) and the Purvis factors as outlined above. Thus, Guagua-Alarcon has shown no plain error to establish his Fourth Amendment and McLaughlin claims.” United States v. Cabezas-Montano, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 2931 (11th Cir. Jan. 30, 2020).

Plaintiff tried a Rodriguez issue of the reasonableness of the length of the delay to a jury and lost. The court can’t say that the jury’s verdict is unreasonable and should be set aside. Hernandez v. Boles, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 2948 (6th Cir. Jan. 28, 2020).*