Court: Deputy Did Not Have Right To Detain Illegal Immigrant (AP c/o WREG-TN)

Court: Deputy Did Not Have Right To Detain Illegal Immigrant
Posted by George Brown
george.brown@wreg.com
(Nashville, TN 3/21/2008)

FAST FACTS:
- Court says deputy unreasonably detained an illegal alien
- Three guns, fake ID's, found during a subsequent search cannot be used as evidence
- Court ruled deputy stopped Jose Eduardo Urrieta on a "hunch"

An appeals court has ruled that a Rutherford County Sheriff's deputy unreasonably detained an illegal immigrant during a traffic stop.
The ruling from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means that three guns and several fake identification cards found during a subsequent search cannot be used as evidence.
According to the decision, Jose Eduardo Urrieta was moving across the country with his girlfriend and her teenage son in a packed car that was towing a second packed car.
Deputy Lee Young pulled Urrieta over for several traffic violations in August 2006. Young mistakenly thought Urrieta was not legally allowed to drive in the U.S. and detained him, eventually searching the cars.
The court ruled Thursday that Urrieta was detained on a "hunch" that he was running drugs, but that suspicion was not reasonable. Because of that, his detention violated the Fourth Amendment.