Pubdate: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 Source: Clarion-Ledger, The (MS) Copyright: 2005 The Clarion-Ledger Contact: http://www.clarionledger.com/about/letters.html Website: http://www.clarionledger.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/805 JUDGES RULE TRUCK SEARCH LEGAL A federal appeals court has ruled legal the search of a truck during which drugs were found by Mississippi Department of Transportation inspectors. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week upheld a ruling by a federal judge in Mississippi that MDOT officers had authority to enforce transportation laws when they searched Arnulfo Hernandez Cardenas' truck during a traffic stop in 2003. Cardenas and Luis Rene Bustamante-Mares were arrested after cocaine was found in containers in the truck. Both were charged with conspiracy to possess a controlled substance. Cardenas was sentenced in 2004 to 120 months in prison with five years on supervised release, according to U.S. District Court records, while Mares was sentenced to 32 months and five years supervised release. According to the court record, the MDOT officers, after noticing that Cardenas and his passenger appeared nervous, requested and received permission from both men to search the truck. The officers found containers, opened one, and discovered a substance that tested positive for cocaine. On appeal, Cardenas argued the stop was illegal and that his consent to the search was not free and voluntary. The 5th Circuit said the stop was constitutional. The court said for "closely regulated" businesses, such as the trucking industry, there is an exception to a search warrant requirement. "We are quite proud of our enforcement people, and this is a major lick for the Supreme Court to uphold their efforts," said Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall. "They have some tough work out there protecting our highways." The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1987 in a New York case that inspection can be carried out under a regulatory scheme to enforce compliance with laws without a search warrant. In other words, states have an interest in checking to see if a regulated business, in this case trucking, is following laws that promote the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles and ensure compliance with traffic laws and with commercial motor vehicle safety standards. Cardenas also complained that the search was conducted while he was being illegally detained. The 5th Circuit said because the officers detained Cardenas subsequent to the stop while they performed their administrative check of the truck and because the request for consent to search "did nothing to extend the duration of the initial, valid seizure," it was constitutional. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin