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On the 28th of September 2012, Hector Magallon-Lopez was driving through Montana when he heard a siren and saw blue lights in his mirror, just outside of Billings. He puled his VW Passat over to the side of Interstate 90 and waited for the police to approach. The officer told Magallon-Lopez that he’d pulled him over for failing to signal before changing lanes. But this was an outright lie. Magallon-Lopez hadn’t failed to signal at all.

The truth is that the DEA was in the midst of a drug-smuggling investigation. From a wiretap, the Agency had gathered that two hispanic men would be driving from Washington State to Minnesota. They would supposedly be driving a car that was green, or black, or white. And they would be transporting meth.

When the Montana highway patrol saw Hector Magallon-Lopez driving the green VW at 3 AM, they pulled up alongside to confirm that his passengers–Juan Sanchez–was also hispanic. Then they stopped the two without any reason.

Multiple police cars with lights on
Police units respond on scene | iStock

In this case, they were right. A drug-detection found two pounds of methamphetamine in the Minneapolis-bound car. But the drug runners lawyered up and argued that the officers couldn’t just make up a reason to pull them over, lie about it, and get away with it. The ruling may have important implications for all of us.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reviewed the case: United States v. Hector Magallon-Lopez (9th Cir., 2016) 817 F.3d 671. It ruled that it is fine for police to lie about the reason for a traffic stop–or make up a bogus reason for a traffic stop altogether–if the officer has evidence to establish “reasonable suspicion to believe that criminal activity may be afoot.”

Driver looks on as police complete a search of his motor vehicle's trunk.
Police vehicle search | Antonio_Diaz via iStockPhoto

In this case, that evidence was enough to pull over two hispanic men in a white, black, or green car on I90 eastbound at three in the morning. But in future investigations–by the DEA or anyone–that could include any imaginable combination of make, model, driver, and travel route.

The lawyers at Greg Hill and Associates put it well when they wrote, “We do not like this opinion at all.  It seems to open up a loophole for officers to make pre-textual stops and then later claim they knew certain things, when in fact they did not at the time of the stop.”

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Staff Writer

Henry Cesari

Henry Cesari joined MotorBiscuit in 2021 and brings his deep interest in vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles to the site. Having restored his first classic car at just 16 years old, Henry has wrenched on everything from overland campers to Japanese motorcycles and even pre-war Bugattis. Henry is also an avid attendee at local car shows and genuinely enjoys connecting with fellow auto enthusiasts.

Henry earned a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and English from the University of Vermont. He has since incorporated his love of the written word with his admiration of classic cars. While Henry is interested in vintage cars, he believes the golden age of cars is yet to come. He is confident journalists will play an important role in this revolution by exposing the industry as it is now and envisioning its possible future.