CA9: Rodriguez taint from one stop affected a later one where the first officer had to let the vehicle go when the dog was delayed

The district court did not err during a civil forfeiture action when it granted a claimant’s motion to suppress $167,070 a sheriff’s deputy found in a mobile home the claimant was driving, ordered the Government to return the money, and awarded the claimant $146,938 in attorneys’ fees. Although the deputy who made the stop obtained a warrant to search the vehicle after a drug dog indicated the presence of drugs or drug-tainted money, that stop was tainted because a local patrol officer had earlier the same day stopped the claimant, kept him longer than necessary while he unsuccessfully attempted to secure the assistance of another officer with a drug dog, and had called ahead to the sheriff’s office and suggested that they have a deputy stop him to see if a drug-detection dog alerted when it was walked around the home. It was two coordinated stops. United States v. Gorman, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 18610 (9th Cir. Sept. 14, 2017).

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