United States of America,plaintiff-Appellee v. Armando Lopez-Soto

W. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge:

Defendant-appellant Armando Lopez-Soto appeals from the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence that was the basis of his conviction. Because the police officer who discovered the evidence did so only after he had stopped Lopez-Soto’s car without reasonable suspicion, we conclude that the stop violated the Fourth Amendment and that the evidence must be suppressed.

I

On July 22, 1998, San Diego Police Officer Randall Hill was driving behind and to the left of Lopez-Soto’s Mercury Grand Marquis as it headed northbound on Interstate 805. Officer Hill…