UNITED STATES v. GASPAR (2019)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Luis Javier GASPAR, Defendant-Appellant.

United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Francisco Calderon, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 18-30142, No. 18-30177

Decided: October 28, 2019

Before: FARRIS, BEA, and CHRISTEN, Circuit Judges. Brendan Patrick McCarthy, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Leif Johnson, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Office of the US Attorney, Billings, MT, for Plaintiff-Appellee Lisa Jeannine Bazant, Attorney, Billings, MT, for Defendant-Appellant

MEMORANDUM **

Appellants Luis Gaspar and Francisco Calderon appeal the district court’s denial of their joint motion to suppress evidence obtained by police during a traffic stop. They argue the traffic stop, for following another vehicle too closely in violation of Montana Code Annotated § 61-8-329, was improper because the law is unconstitutionally vague. Even if the stop had been unconstitutional, however, the discovery of valid arrest warrants for both Appellants was “a sufficient intervening event to break the causal chain between the unlawful stop and the discovery of [the] evidence.” Utah v. Strieff, ––– U.S. ––––, 136 S. Ct. 2056, 2061, 195 L. Ed. 2d 400 (2016).

AFFIRMED.