S.D.Ala.: Stop became consensual, but defendant should have been allowed to leave when he refused consent; dog alert suppressed

Defendant was lawfully stopped for overtinting, and the stop became too long after the warning was issued and consent was sought. Defendant refused consent to search the car, so the officer told him that a drug dog was coming to go around the car. The dog alerted and the search was unreasonable. United States v. Walker, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8745 (S.D. Ala. January 24, 2014).

The USMJ’s recommendation denying the motion to suppress is rejected, and the motion is granted. There was no reasonable suspicion from defendant’s traffic stop that permitted his detention. Raising one’s hands during a stop may be “weird,” but it doesn’t indicate criminality. Defendant was wearing a down jacket with pajama bottoms in winter in South Dakota; what’s the criminal activity afoot from that? United States v. Banks, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8731 (D. S.D. January 24, 2014).*

Officers were looking for suspects in a bank robbery and had GPS money tracker information they were following. When defendant saw the police he fled. The police were justified in pursuing him [because his actions gave him away]. United States v. Johnson, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8311 (S.D. Fla. January 10, 2014).*