Police Officer and K-9 Stop Two Individuals Charged with Possessing Methamphetamine

The United State Supreme Court has granted a writ of certiorari to consider the issue of prolongation of a traffic stop by police in order to carry out a dog sniff of the vehicle. The case is Denny Rodriguez v. United States, No 13-9972 and the facts of the case are as follow:

• On March 27, 2012, just after midnight, police officer Morgan Struble observed a vehicle veer slowly onto the shoulder of the highway, before it jerked back onto the road. Struble initiated a traffic stop of the vehicle at 12:06 a.m. Struble is a K–9 officer, and his dog Floyd was with him that night.
• Struble approached the vehicle on the passenger’s side. The driver identified himself as Rodriguez. When asked why he drove onto the shoulder, Rodriguez replied that he had swerved to avoid a pothole. The passenger, who would not make eye contact with Struble, identified himself as Scott Pollman. Struble gathered Rodriguez’s license, registration, and proof of insurance and asked Rodriguez to accompany him to the patrol car. Rodriguez asked if he was required to do so, and Struble said that he was not. Rodriguez then decided to wait in his own vehicle.
• Struble went to his patrol car to complete a records check on Rodriguez. When he returned to Rodriguez’s vehicle, Struble asked Pollman for his identification and inquired where Pollman and Rodriguez had been. Pollman explained that they had travelled to Omaha, Nebraska, to look at a Ford Mustang that was for sale and that they were returning to Norfolk, Nebraska. When Struble went to his patrol car for a second time, he completed a records check on Pollman and called for a second officer. Struble issued a written warning to Rodriguez at 12:27 or 12:28a.m.
• Struble then asked for permission to walk his dog around Rodriguez’s vehicle. When Rodriguez refused consent, Struble instructed him to exit the vehicle. Rodriguez then exited the vehicle and stood in front of the patrol car while they waited for a second officer to arrive. At 12:33a.m, a deputy sheriff arrived, and a minute later, Struble walked the dog around the outside of Rodriguez’s car. The dog alerted to the presence of drugs halfway through the second pass, approximately twenty or thirty seconds later. All told, seven or eight minutes had passed from the time Struble had issued the written warning until the dog indicated the presence of drugs. A search of the vehicle revealed a large bag of methamphetamine.

As set forth above, Rodriguez was charged with possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The district court denied Rodriguez’s motion to suppress the evidence, holding that the delay caused by the dog sniff did not violate Rodriguez’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures. On appeal, Rodriguez argues that his motion should have been granted because the stop was unreasonably prolonged by the dog sniff in the absence of reasonable suspicion to continue his detention. Rodriguez does not challenge the validity of the initial stop.

United States v. Rodriguez, 741 F.3d 905, 906 -907 (8th Cir. 2014)