15 04, 2025

CA8: K9 touching car was instinctive and not a violation US v Munoz

By |2025-04-18T15:16:59+00:00April 15th, 2025|CA8, Narcotics Detection, Vehicle Sniffs|0 Comments

United States v. Munoz (8th Cir. 2025) Federal Case – Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals In United States v. Munoz, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed a familiar issue in K9 case law—how far is too far when a drug dog sniffs (and touches) a car during a traffic stop? The case involved three defendants—Ashley Chacon, Emiliano Nava Munoz, and Valentin Nava Munoz—who were stopped and ultimately charged with distributing massive amounts of methamphetamine. Chacon was pulled over for speeding in Iowa. During the stop, an officer asked her to sit in his patrol vehicle while he completed the [...]

6 09, 2024

CA8: Alert style not specified by court to be upheld

By |2025-01-28T19:23:32+00:00September 6th, 2024|CA8, Federal Circuits, Federal Districts, Narcotics Detection, Vehicle Sniffs|0 Comments

United States v. Collier, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 22709 (8th Cir. Sep. 6, 2024). "Every dog is unique, and a dog that smells illicit drugs is not required to communicate with its handler in any specific way. … ‘Dogs alert in many different manners. One dog may alert in one manner while another dog may alert in another manner.’ … The reliability of a dog’s alert, not its manner, is what matters. See Holleman, 743 F.3d at 1156 (‘Fourth Amendment jurisprudence does not require drug dogs to abide by a specific and consistent code in signaling their sniffing of drugs [...]

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