United States of America v. Ceballos, 812 F. 2d 42 (1987)

The principal issue raised on this appeal is whether a criminal suspect who passively obeys a law enforcement agent\u27s stern request to accompany him to his field office for questioning has been seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The issue arises on an appeal by Efrain Adames and Abraham Ceballos from judgments of the District Court for the Southern District of New York (Gerard L. Goettel, Judge) convicting them on their pleas of guilty to counterfeiting and conspiracy violations, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 371, 474 (1982). Both defendants reserved the right to challenge on appeal the denial of their motions to suppress physical evidence seized and statements made at or about the time of their arrests. Because Secret Service agents placed Adames in investigatory custody before they had probable cause to arrest him, we reverse the District Court\u27s denial of Adames\u27 suppression motion. We affirm Judge Goettel\u27s denial of Ceballos\u27 suppression motion. Judge Miner\u27s dissent begins on page 5