United States v. David Orozco, 41 F.4th 403

Police stopped a Lexus driven by David Sierra Orozco after observing traffic violations and learned the registered owner’s license was suspended; Orozco used a Samsung smartphone showing a GPS app and gave inconsistent answers about his destination.
Officers observed toolmarks and a non-flush dashboard; a K-9 alerted to drug residue, leading to discovery of $111,252 in grocery bags hidden in a secret dashboard compartment; Orozco admitted he was paid to drive the car.
At the station, officers found a folded $100 bill in Orozco’s shoe that contained five micro-SD cards; Orozco grabbed some cards, put two in his mouth, chewed one (rendering it inoperable) and apparently swallowed another.
Based on these facts, officers obtained a warrant to search the Samsung phone and three operable SD cards; initial review of one SD card revealed suspected child pornography, prompting subsequent warrants for the SD cards and the phone.
Orozco was indicted under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B) for possession of child pornography; he moved to suppress the evidence, arguing the first warrant lacked probable cause; the district court denied suppression, he was convicted, and he appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Probable cause that Orozco was engaged in drug trafficking	Orozco: being paid to drive and possession of cash alone are lawful/innocent; cash is not contraband	Government: totality (large hidden cash, K-9 alerts, dashboard concealment, evasive behavior, admission) gave fair probability of drug trafficking	Court: Probable cause existed under the totality of circumstances; officers need not rule out innocent explanations
Nexus between SD cards (found in shoe and destroyed) and drug evidence	Orozco: chewing/swallowing does not necessarily link cards to drug trafficking; affidavit lacked explicit training-and-experience nexus language	Government: attempt to destroy suggests inculpatory nature; courts may infer destroyed items are evidence of suspected crime; commonsense inference sufficed	Court: Substantial basis to infer the SD cards related to the suspected drug crime; warrant was proper
Nexus between smartphone and drug evidence	Orozco: affidavit lacked express training-and-experience statement tying phones to drug evidence; boilerplate missing	Government: phone was in use for GPS at the stop and Orozco closed the GPS app when asked—direct evidence linking device to the ongoing activity	Court: Magistrate had ample basis to find the phone likely contained evidence (open GPS provided a direct nexus); warrant upheld

Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (establishes totality-of-the-circumstances test and deference to magistrate probable-cause determinations)
Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (smartphones hold highly personal, comprehensive data; search implications analogous to home searches)
United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (good-faith exception to exclusionary rule if warrant objectively reasonable)
United States v. Blakeney, 949 F.3d 851 (illustrative of not having to rule out innocent explanations when assessing probable cause)
United States v. Jones, 942 F.3d 634 (nexus need not be express; magistrate may draw reasonable inferences)
United States v. Cobb, 970 F.3d 319 (attempts to destroy or conceal items can support inference items are evidentiary)
United States v. Anderson, 851 F.2d 727 (nexus may be established by the normal inferences of where one would keep evidence)
United States v. Funds in the Amount of $30,670, 403 F.3d 448 (K-9 alerts to currency and the ephemeral nature of cocaine byproduct may support inference of recent proximity to drugs)