--- title: "Ornelas v. United States" citation: "Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690 (1996)" authority_id: "AUTH-SCOTUS-ORNELAS-517-US-690" authority_type: "case" jurisdiction: "federal_nationwide" precedential_status: "binding" official_url: "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USREPORTS-517/pdf/USREPORTS-517-690.pdf" url: "https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/authorities/AUTH-SCOTUS-ORNELAS-517-US-690/" legal_review: "2026-08-25" links_checked: "2026-10-15" links_available: 1 links_checked_count: 1 license: "CC BY 4.0" --- # Ornelas v. United States ## Holding used Ultimate reasonable-suspicion and probable-cause determinations receive independent appellate review; historical facts receive clear-error review with due weight to local inferences. ## Material limitation Other suppression questions, credibility decisions, harmlessness, and remedy can have different review rules. ## Official source and pinpoints 517 U.S. 690, 696–700 (1996): ## Used in - [Suppression, Severance, and Pretrial Evidentiary Motions](https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/modules/20-pretrial/suppression-severance-and-pretrial-motions.md)