IN: Dog sniff at front door not Fourth Amendment violation

Even though this issue has already been argued in SCOTUS, something not even mentioned by this court, a dog sniff at defendant’s front door is not unreasonable. The dog’s alert was PC for a search warrant. Perez v. State, 981 N.E.2d 1242 (Ind. App. 2013):

After Perez was arrested for resisting law enforcement, Trooper Dockery took the drug detection canine to Perez’s front door to sniff. Although the front door was closed, the canine alerted to the presence of illegal narcotics at the door.

Even though Perez claims that the police officers’ actions of bringing the canine on the premises were illegal, we have determined that an individual does not harbor an expectation of privacy on a front porch where salesmen, neighbors, visitors, or religious proselytizers may appear at any time. In other words, as long as an officer is lawfully on the premises, the officer may have a dog sniff the residence without implicating the Fourth Amendment. Hoop v. State, 909 N.E.2d 463, 468 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009). Also, a dog sniff alone can provide probable cause for the issuance of a search warrant. Id. at 471. As a result, the canine’s sniff at the closed front door of Perez’s residence was not an illegal search, and his alert to the presence of narcotics alone was sufficient to provide probable cause for the warrant to search Perez’s residence.

Jardines was argued October 31st, and it should be decided any day.

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