{"id":4046,"date":"2010-04-10T07:46:15","date_gmt":"2010-04-09T07:13:03","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-09T07:13:03","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=4046","title":{"rendered":"CA8: PC from dog alert extended across state lines to a second stop"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defendant was stopped in Wyoming and consented to a drug dog search of his car. The dog alerted and the car was searched but nothing was found, so he was released. The Wyoming officer called ahead to South Dakota and warned them defendant was coming. Defendant was stopped in South Dakota for speeding, and \u201cduring the stop\u201d a drug dog was \u201cdeployed,\u201d alerting to a different area of the car. The officer noticed signs of changes in the vehicle and found a hidden compartment. Aside from the prior stop, this use of the drug dog was promptly into the stop, and probable cause developed. The Wyoming probable cause continued into South Dakota. Citing \u201cThe French Connection,\u201d<\/a> it is well known that vehicles have sophisticated methods of hiding drugs. United States v. Hernandez-Mendoza<\/a>, 08-3898 (8th Cir. April 6, 2010):<\/p>\n

… Even if we accept that Swets acted based in part on pre-existing probable cause developed in Wyoming, the search was not unreasonable. [\u00b6] The stop by Trooper Swets was based on a traffic violation, so we need not be concerned with whether the probable cause from Wyoming would justify a second seizure. Cf. United States v. Garcia<\/a>, 23 F.3d 1331, 1334-35 & n.2 (8th Cir. 1994); United States v. Peters<\/a>, 10 F.3d 1517, 1522-23 (10th Cir. 1993). The seizure here was reasonable, and we must consider whether Swets had probable cause to search despite the previous investigation. That a law enforcement supervisor in Wyoming determined to cease searching and to release the vehicle is not dispositive, for whether probable cause exists is a question of law to be determined objectively. See Whren v. United States<\/a>, 517 U.S. 806, 812-13 (1996). The Wyoming lieutenant decided that the vehicle did not contain drugs; Captain Hodge disagreed. The lieutenant outranked Hodge, but law enforcement\u2019s pecking order does not make the supervisor\u2019s subjective opinion controlling under the Fourth Amendment. In South Dakota, Trooper Swets observed the hidden compartment and food storage containers after about ten minutes of searching the vehicle. If there had been probable cause to search for another ten minutes in Wyoming before the vehicle was released, then there was probable cause for Swets to search for ten minutes in South Dakota based on the same pre-existing probable cause.<\/p>\n

It is well established, and well known, that drug traffickers have developed sophisticated means to secrete contraband in vehicles. See United States v. Oliver-Mendez<\/a>, 484 F.3d 505, 508, 512 (8th Cir. 2007); The French Connection<\/a> (20th Century Fox 1971). …<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Update:<\/strong> Corrected a seriously bad typo: The dog first alerted but nothing was found, and defendant was let go on his way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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