Sniffing out the Truth

Whenever you find yourself with a drug case that involves a drug detection dog, it is important to determine whether the search happened lawfully and whether the dog was qualified. While working on a case recently, I discovered a great website by Terry Fleck, Narcotic Canine Legal Update and Opinions. The site contains basic search and seizure rules, canine training basics, information on reliability and certifications, the different kinds of dog detections, and best of all, a case law list by circuit. It is supposedly for "law enforcement" only, which makes it even better!

In 2005, the US Supreme Court decided Illinois v. Caballes, which held that a dog sniff during a lawful traffic stop does not violate the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court declined to extend this rule to a situation where there is a delay or detention for the dog to arrive. This opinion has been used to expand the use of drug dog detections all over the country to expand the ability of law enforcement to search where they would otherwise not have probable cause. Justice Ginsburg, in her dissent, warns, "Today's decision, in contrast, clears the way for suspicionless, dog-accompanied drug sweeps of parked cars along sidewalks and in parking lots."


When one looks at the history of dog detection, a disturbing history begins to emerge. While dogs have been used for centuries, in modern times, the Nazis popularized the use of German shepherds mainly in concentration camps. (For an interesting history of search dogs, click here). More recently, dog searches have become a popular tool by law enforcement in the "war on drugs". Additionally, the US military has used dogs at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo to harass and frighten detainees. Unfortunately, these uses can definitely go too far as the video below demonstrates. When you have a search involving a dog, definitely look at the case law and consider getting an expert to look over the qualification of both dog and dog handler.