Case: 17-40739 Document: 00514810043 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/25/2019 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 17-40739 United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED January 25, 2019 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Lyle W. Cayce Plaintiff - Appellant Clerk v. JEFFREY LOUIS FREEMAN, Defendant - Appellee Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Before HIGGINBOTHAM, SMITH, and GRAVES, Circuit Judges. JAMES E. GRAVES, JR., Circuit Judge: This is an interlocutory appeal of the grant of a motion to suppress. Defendant-Appellee Jeffrey Louis Freeman (“Freeman”) was stopped twice over the course of several months while driving his truck along Farm-to- Market Road 2050 (“FM 2050”) near the Texas-Mexico border, once by a county deputy and once by U.S. Border Patrol Agent Carlos Perez. Freeman was charged with conspiracy to transport an illegal alien within the United States, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) and (v)(I), and transportation of an alien within the United States for financial gain, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) and (v)(II). Freeman filed a motion to suppress evidence obtained from both stops. The magistrate judge held an evidentiary hearing on the motion and recommended Case: 17-40739 Document: 00514810043 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/25/2019 No. 17-40739 the district court grant Freeman’s motion as to the first stop but deny his motion as to the second stop. The district court adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation as to the first stop, but not as to the second stop, granting Freeman’s motion to suppress as to both stops. The Appellant-Government appeals the district court’s ruling as to the second stop only. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Background of the Area and of Agent Perez Agent Perez’s testimony made up a significant portion of the suppression hearing before the magistrate judge. He testified that he had been a Border Patrol agent at the Freer, Texas immigration checkpoint for over eight years. His duties at the checkpoint consisted of working the inspection lanes and conducting immigration inspections on vehicles that approach the checkpoint. Agent Perez testified that the Freer checkpoint is about 50 miles from the border of the United States and Mexico and approximately 43 miles from Laredo, Texas. It sits on U.S. Highway 59, just north of where FM 2050 dead- ends into Highway 59. If a motorist traveling north on Highway 59 turned right (south) onto FM 2050, he would avoid the Freer checkpoint. Agent Perez testified that turning right onto FM 2050 from Highway 59 will add about an hour onto a trip from Laredo to Houston. It is undisputed that FM 2050 is known for alien and contraband smuggling. Nevertheless, there are legitimate reasons to be on FM 2050. Agent Perez testified that there are homes, ranches, and businesses along the road. When pressed by the magistrate judge, he guessed there were perhaps a dozen homes, in addition to a wind farm, oil and gas concerns, and other ranches. Agent Perez testified he ...
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