United States v. John Mendez

REYNALDO G. GARZA, Circuit Judge:

The defendant, John Mendez, 1 appeals from a district court order denying his motion to suppress certain evidence from being introduced at his trial and from a judgment of conviction on a narcotics charge, entered following a bench trial. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand the case for a jury trial.

I

On March 10, 1993, police officers stationed themselves at Houston’s Hobby Airport to observe the passengers boarding TWA’s 12:37 p.m. flight to New York. The officers became suspicious of Mendez, a passenger on that flight, and proceeded to have a…