United States v. Farias-Gonzalez

COX, Circuit Judge:

The principal issue in this appeal is whether evidence of who the defendant is (“identity-related evidence”), obtained after an unconstitutional search and seizure, is suppressible in a criminal prosecution. We conclude that, under the cost-benefit balancing test used by the Supreme Court in Hudson v. Michigan, 547 U.S. 586, 126 S.Ct. 2159, 165 L.Ed.2d 56 (2006), identity-related evidence is not suppressible when offered in a criminal prosecution only to prove who the defendant is.

I. BACKGROUND

In 2006, two Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents were patrolling…