Ron White, “Behavioral Problems”: “what’s his signal, a blank stare?” W.D.N.C.: Dog didn’t alert

Defendants were pulled over for going left of center, and the officer almost immediately put the drug dog on the car within two minutes of the stop, before the computer checks even came back. The traffic stop is abandoned for a drug investigation. The USMJ finds that the dog’s blank stare could not be found to be an alert. (The dog seemed “interested” in the passenger door but didn’t really alert.) United States v. Raymond, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183929 (W.D. N.C. September 25, 2013), adopted in part and rejected in part [rejecting the part that the held the search of an apartment valid] 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7201 (W.D. N.C. January 20, 2014):

The Court, however, finds that after a review of the evidence in the record and after witnessing the testimony of the witnesses, that Beck [the dog] did not in fact alert to the presence of narcotics in this case. In short, the Court finds the testimony of Officer Cox that Beck alerted to the passenger side door not to be credible. An examination of the video of the traffic stop shows that within five or six seconds of Officer Cox beginning the dog-sniff of the red Mazda, Beck veered off the search pattern and headed towards Detective Smith. As Beck heads towards Detective Smith, the change in his behavior is apparent; Beck lowers his head, appears to change his gait, and begins to sniff either Detective Smith’s shoes or the ground around his shoes. It is clear from the video that Beck shows an interest in either Detective Smith or the area around him that would be consistent with the type of alert that might precede a final indication. Officer Cox, however, redirects Beck away from Detective Smith and restarts the sniff of the perimeter of the vehicle. Aside from investigating Detective Smith, Beck maintains a constant speed around the vehicle and does not stop to investigate any particular area of the car more than others. Moreover, there is no noticeable change in behavior in the video when Beck is at the passenger door.

Ron White, “Behavioral Problems”: “what’s his signal, a blank stare?” [Note: The court didn’t quote Ron White; the opinion just made me think of this routine.]