Berzon would not foreclose holding, in another case, that there is a due process based right to be informed of the true basis for a stop or arrest.
COUNSEL
Michael J. Donahoe (argued) and Mark S. Werner, Assistant Federal Public Defenders, Federal Defenders of Montana, Billings, Montana, for Defendant-Appellant.
Michael W. Cotter, United States Attorney, Brendan P. McCarthy (argued), Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana, Billings, Montana, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
OPINION
WATFORD, Circuit Judge:
Officers investigating an interstate drug-trafficking ring learned through wiretap intercepts that a shipment of methamphetamine would be traveling by car from Washington to Minnesota. They stopped the car en route in Montana; the car belonged to appellant Hector Magallon-Lopez, who was driving. Officers seized the car and, after obtaining a search warrant, discovered approximately two pounds of methamphetamine hidden in an area beneath the trunk. That discovery formed the basis for Magallon-Lopez’s drug-trafficking convictions following a jury trial. On appeal, he challenges only the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress the drugs found in his car.
