MS: Delay for dog sniff doesn’t seem to matter in Mississippi if the dog is already there

The court holds essentially that it didn’t matter whether there was reasonable suspicion or not for a dog sniff after a traffic stop. Also, there’s no ineffective assistance claim to a forfeiture. In re One Hundred Thirtyseven Thousand Three Hundred Twenty-Five Dollars $137,325.00 in United States Currency v. State ex rel. Pelahatchie Police Dep’t, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 746 (Nov. 22, 2016).

Defendant was convicted of being a felon in possession. In what could have been Terry at a different time and place, two men were in a car waiting for a gun store to open. The owner arrived, and the police were watching. The two men didn’t enter when the store opened, and then a third man walked up and the three went inside. The store had been robbed before and had been burglarized. The store owner thought a straw purchase was being attempted. The police outside were called, and they came in, and the three men went back outside. Outside, another officer observed the three passing a gun around to each other. Defendant went back into the store with a second man and the third stayed outside. The officers thought a robbery maybe going down, and they called the store, but no robbery. He came out with a gun and passed it to one of the other men who tucked it in his waistband. The officers called for a marked car to make the stop. “We further find that based upon the totality of the circumstances, the officers’ observations created reasonable and articulable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot, thus justifying further investigation and the detention of appellant.” State v. Higgins, 2016-Ohio-7890, 2016 Ohio App. LEXIS 4758 (8th Dist. Nov. 23, 2016).*