United States v. Angel David Vasquez-Garcia

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
No. 09-10060 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
SEPTEMBER 22, 2009
Non-Argument Calendar
THOMAS K. KAHN
________________________
CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 07-00360-CR-1-01-JOF
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
ANGEL DAVID VASQUEZ-GARCIA,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
_________________________
(September 22, 2009)
Before BIRCH, HULL and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Angel David Vasquez-Garcia appeals his conviction for the unlawful reentry
of a deported alien, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), (b)(2). On appeal, he argues
that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress because identity-
related materials obtained after an unconstitutional search and seizure are
suppressible. Vasquez-Garcia acknowledges that his argument is foreclosed by our
holding in United States v. Farias-Gonzalez, 556 F.3d 1181 (11th Cir. 2009),
petition for cert. filed, (U.S. May 4, 2009) (No. 08-10195), but wishes to preserve
his argument.
In reviewing a district court’s denial of a motion to suppress, we review
findings of fact for clear error and the application of law to those facts de novo.
Farias-Gonzalez, 556 F.3d at 1185. In Farias-Gonzalez, we addressed “whether
evidence of who the defendant is (‘identity-related evidence’), obtained after an
unconstitutional search and seizure, is suppressible in a criminal prosecution.” Id.
at 1182. There, law enforcement officials electronically fingerprinted the
defendant in order to determine whether he had illegally entered the country. Id. at
1183. The fingerprint machine identified the defendant’s real name and that he
previously had been deported from the United States. Id. The defendant’s
fingerprints were used only as evidence of identity and not to connect him to any
non-identity related crimes. Id. at 1185 n.4. We held that identity-related evidence
is not suppressible when offered in a criminal prosecution only to prove who the
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defendant is. Id. at 1182, 1189. Identity-related evidence includes fingerprints and
photographs. Id. at 1189.
We also held that an alien file, which contains fingerprints, photographs, and
deportation history of an alien, is “not suppressible when the government already
knows the identity of the illegal alien and has his alien file in its possession.” Id.(citing United States v. Martinez, 512 F.2d 830, 832 (5th Cir. 1975)). An alien file
is “not the product of any unconstitutional activity” when “it already exist[s] and
[is] located in the records of a government agency.” Id.In this case, law enforcement officials used Vasquez-Garcia’s fingerprints
only to prove who Vasquez-Garcia was. As such, Farias-Gonzalez controls the
outcome of this case, and Vasquez-Garcia’s identity-related evidence – his
fingerprints and photographs – cannot be suppressed. Additionally, Vasquez-
Garcia’s alien file is not suppressible because it was located in the records of a
government agency, the National Records Center, at the time of his arrest.
Accordingly, we affirm Vasquez-Garcia’s conviction.
AFFIRMED.
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