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In The Superior Court of The State of Arizona in and for The County of Maricopa: The State of Arizona v. Hunter State's motion to preclude evidence of canine searches; Defendant's motion to preclude pursuant to daubert and rules 401,402, 403, and 702; Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County
A PowerPoint presentation detailing an arson case, including an investigation report.
US District Court District of Massachusetts: USA v. Hebshie
This week is the second in a two-part series covering the two dog sniff cases out of Florida being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on October 31.
This week is the first in a two-part series covering the two dog sniff cases out of Florida being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on October 31.
Amicus curiae brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in support of the respondent.
Argument: Acting on a tip, police conducted a warrantless “canine sniff” with a drug detection dog of the front door of the defendant’s residence and obtained a search warrant based on the dog’s alert. Marijuana was found growing in the defendant’s home. The Florida Supreme Court held that the “sniff test” was itself a search requiring probable cause. Amici argue that persons have a heightened expectation of privacy in their homes and that dog sniffs are highly intrusive, since the sniff can reveal much more than the mere presence or absence of contraband and is a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Absent exigent circumstances, such a suspicionless search of a home is inherently unreasonable. Further, allowing suspicionless dog sniffs of houses would permit indiscriminate sweeps of residential neighborhoods, a practice some law enforcement officials have already begun to employ.
Amicus curiae brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Florida Ass’n of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida in support of the respondent.
Argument: An alert by a “trained” or “certified” drug detection dog by itself is insufficient to establish probable cause; evidence of a dog’s reliability is but one factor in a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis recommended by the Florida Supreme Court. Real-world data demonstrate that even trained or certified dogs have a high rate of false alerts; brief lists a number of different factors relating to a drug dog’s reliability.
