Fingerprint evidence as a result of an illegal seizure in an illegal re-entry case would not be suppressed. United States v. Lopez, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83426 (W.D. Tex. June 15, 2012):<\/p>\n
No such bright line exists in published case law explicitly preventing the suppression of fingerprint evidence gathered as part of an illegal seizure and arrest in the illegal re-entry context. However, in Roque-Villanueva<\/a>, the Fifth Circuit held that, “[e]ven if the [d]efendant was illegally stopped, neither his identity nor his INS file [is] suppressible.” 175 F.3d 345, 346 (5th Cir. 1999) (emphasis added); Scroggins, 599 F.3d at 450 (quoting the holding in Roque-Villanueva). In a number of unpublished Fifth Circuit opinions, panels have acknowledged that “identity” includes fingerprint evidence by, for example, concluding that “even if there was a Fourth Amendment violation, this [circuit] has held that evidence of identity, such as one’s fingerprints and A-file, is not suppressible.” United States v. Cervantes-Malagon<\/a>, 2012 WL 13769, at *1 (5th Cir. Jan. 4, 2012) …<\/p>\n
The Court is persuaded by the reasoning in the foregoing authorities that, in the context of an illegal re-entry prosecution, even fingerprint evidence gathered following a Fourth Amendment violation is not subject to suppression when that evidence is used merely to establish a defendant’s identity. …<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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