OMAHA, Neb.—A Nebraska state trooper’s decision to stop a minivan with valid temporary plates from Arizona was legal because the wording on the plates was too small, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said cocaine the trooper subsequently found hidden on the underside of the van in November 2007 can be used as evidence against Agustin Morales-Mata and Yesenia Sanchez. The panel upheld their convictions for attempting to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
Morales-Mata is serving a federal prison sentence of 7 years and 3 months. Sanchez is serving a sentence of 6 years and 2 months.
The federal public defender who represents Morales-Mata, Michael Hansen, said he plans to ask the full 8th Circuit to review the case. He would not discuss specifics of the case.
Sanchez’ attorney, Korey Reiman, did not immediately respond to a phone message left Monday seeking comment.
A phone message left at U.S. Attorney Joe Stecher’s office also was not immediately returned.
At the time of the traffic stop on Interstate 80 near Lincoln, Trooper David Frye recognized that the Ford Windstar Morales-Mata was driving didn’t have a front license plate as required by Nebraska law. Frye followed the van and saw a printed page displayed where the rear license plate should be, but he couldn’t determine whether it was a legitimate document, according to court papers.
Frye stopped the van to investigate. He said he couldn’t see the words “Arizona Temporary Registration” on the paper even as he walked past it to talk to the driver, but he noticed what looked like fresh undercoating spray on the van, which is sometimes used to conceal hidden compartments.
The vehicle title that Morales-Mata carried was improper because it didn’t show the buyer’s name. But Frye didn’t make an arrest until Morales-Mata agreed to let the State Patrol search the van and cocaine was found.
Morales-Mata and Sanchez argued in their appeal that Frye should have realized the paper taped to the van was a valid Arizona temporary registration and never should have stopped the van.
But the St. Louis-based appeals court found that Frye’s efforts to investigate the van’s registration were reasonable based on what the trooper knew at the time.
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