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Cops Can’t Legally Wait for Drug Dogs Anymore

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By Barry Bard on April 22, 2015Marijuana News

The United States Supreme Court made a landmark ruling yesterday that prohibits police officers for holding citizens in custody while waiting for a drug dog to arrive at a standard traffic stop.

Judging a case titled Rodriguez vs. U.S., the court ruled that as long as the crime isn’t clearly drug-related (like speeding or making an illegal turn), cops can’t keep an innocent citizen around simply based on suspicion.

In Rodriguez’s case, he was driving on the shoulder when a police officer pulled him over. That police officer didn’t like how Rodriguez looked, so he then called in a drug-sniffing dog which arrived ten minutes later and sniffed out a little bit of methamphetamine.

But Rodriguez wasn’t a drug mule and he certainly wasn’t committing any crime by driving a tad erratically. Thus, Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of Rodriguez, and dogs all over the nation can no longer be called to sniff drugs out of cars without just cause.

With the need for weed-sniffing dogs subsiding, perhaps dogs can go back to doing what they do best: taking naps and chewing bones.

 

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i would not submit willingly to a roadside search...

 

they need to have more than scent alone to prove i am not in compliance.

 

there is no such thing as a compliance check.

 

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present the card... then sit quietly while they violate my rites... settle it with multiple lawsuits after the fact.

 

thats the way our current system works...

 

in my Humble opinion.... if you wanna play in the game.. be ready.

Edited by mibrains
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....and they always announce themselves with an audible yell and a firm knock before ramming your door down I think not. I wish I had the $$ stashed for the occasional legal battle. I wish a group would set up these types of things and bust the bad cops, in raids, pull overs, etc. hidden cams, stunts, its been done in cali, the guy got in trouble for reporting a false crime or some chit like that....but not before he filmed the cops on a few very telling raids.

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....and they always announce themselves with an audible yell and a firm knock before ramming your door down I think not. I wish I had the $$ stashed for the occasional legal battle. I wish a group would set up these types of things and bust the bad cops, in raids, pull overs, etc. hidden cams, stunts, its been done in cali, the guy got in trouble for reporting a false crime or some chit like that....but not before he filmed the cops on a few very telling raids.

It i happening slowly. We are beginning to see cops locked up for some of these infractions. The latest I've heard is an eighteen year sentence for one who was convicted as a serial rapist on the job. That anyone and everyone has a camera at the ready is getting the evidence necessary to take these matters further than a fictional police report. BUT...too many are still getting off the hook despite that evidence. Part of is that they, as individuals, have some degree of immunity, and cases are mostly required to be brought against the entire department for systemic abuse or non-adherence to the law.

 

The best we can do is to keep the pressure going.

Edited by GregS
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Authority for the seizure ends when tasks tied to the traffic infraction are — or reasonably should have been — completed.  In other words, police have no authority to conduct a K9 search of your vehicle outside the normal time it takes to issue a citation.  Calling in a backup K9 unit, for example, to search your vehicle while being pulled over for a defective brake light would fall outside the authority granted to them by the constitution.

 

 

A dog sniff is not part of the officer’s traffic mission.  The court ruled that an officer’s mission during a traffic stop includes determining whether to issue a traffic ticket, checking the driver for warrants, inspecting vehicle registration and verifying proof of insurance.  These checks all serve the purpose of enforcing the traffic code.  However, using a K9 to search for drugs is not considered part of the officer’s “traffic mission.”

 

Know your rights.  Most importantly, you must understand the laws that protect you from unreasonable search and seizure to begin with.  You don’t have to consent to searches or seizures of your property.  Objecting to searches or seizures might even help you later in court.  Always ask if you are free to leave.  If Rodriguez, after receiving his warning, had simply asked the officer if he was being detained or if he was free to leave, he might have been able to drive away and avoid the illegal search in the first place.

 

 

Always record police (horizontally).  It is crucial that you record police in a way that will capture the most objective footage possible.  Capturing an independent recording of officers conducting their traffic stop and even a later search can often deter officers from acting outside the law.  If nothing else, pretend like you’re recording.

Edited by mibrains
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