CA6: Def’s volunteering to officer “he was working with a DEA agent but because his status was classified” contributed to RS

“But even assuming the officers had exceeded the time needed to handle the traffic stop, Officer Ullrich had reasonable suspicion to use the drug dog. As Officer Ullrich approached Jackson’s car after making the traffic stop, Jackson made numerous unprompted statements which created reasonable suspicion regarding his possession of illegal drugs. Jackson told Ullrich that there were ‘no illicit drugs’ in the car and told Ullrich that he was working with a DEA agent but because his status was classified, he could not talk about it. Under these circumstances, we conclude that Officer Ullrich had a particularized basis for suspecting criminal activity based on specific and articulable facts. Accordingly, the initial sniff by the drug dog was lawful, even if it had extended the seizure beyond the time necessary to complete the traffic stop.” United States v. Jackson, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 3826 (6th Cir. Feb. 5, 2020).*

“Reading the Fourth Circuit’s decisions in tandem, the Court FINDS the informant’s tip was reliable and that there was reasonable suspicion to conduct a Terry stop. In this case, the informant called 911 to report the brandishing of a firearm and then proceeded to approach responding officers to provide his testimony of events. During this interaction, the informant provided his identification card to the officers. The fact that the informant wished to remain anonymous is of no importance as he provided law enforcement with identifying information.” United States v. Holloman, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21958 (E.D. Va. Feb. 7, 2020).

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