United States v. Caro

Mario Herbert Gonzalez Caro (hereinafter Gonzalez) appeals from a judgment of the District Court for the Eastern District of New York, convicting him after a jury trial of bringing into the United States $10,010 in counterfeit Federal Reserve Notes with intent to defraud and possessing the same notes with intent to defraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 472. He received concurrent sentences on each count of two years imprisonment, of which all but six months was suspended, and was placed on probation for 18 months. He appeals on the grounds that the search of his suitcase, during which the counterfeit was found and seized, violated the Fourth Amendment; that the Government improperly offered evidence of his silence during the search as part of its direct case; and that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel at trial. The facts concerning the search were developed at a pre-trial suppression hearing. Inspector Kowal, who had nine years of experience with the Customs Service, testified that on December 8, 1979, he was assigned to John F. Kennedy International Airport, where he encountered Gonzalez after the latter had deplaned from a flight from South America. After asking a series of standard questions,1 Kowal requested that Gonzalez open his suitcase for examination. Kowal's suspicions were aroused because although Gonzalez had stated that he was traveling in connection with his custom jewelry business, the inspector saw nothing in the suitcase that would connect him with that occupation. Kowal reached under the clothing in the suitcase and ran his fingers along the bottom ""to check the depth, the hardness of the covers to see if there were any lumps, irregularities, and so forth."" He felt ""ridges, as if there were rows of something, and it did not feel as a smooth bottom usually does."" He removed the clothing from the suitcase and found that the sides felt heavier and thicker than they ordinarily would. Kowal then conferred with his supervisor, Senior Customs Inspector Kane, who also examined the suitcase and agreed that it felt ""lumpy"" and ""heavier than usual"".