Drug-sniffing dog's accuracy questioned
The dog's 26 percent accuracy rate is too low to warrant a car search, a lawyer is arguing.
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Bono is a police dog with a nose for narcotics.
But how reliable is that nose? That was the question raised Tuesday in federal court during a hearing for Herbert Green, who was arrested last year after Bono indicated that he smelled cocaine inside his sport utility vehicle.
Green's lawyer is arguing that Bono has such a bad record — drugs were found just 22 times out of 85 "alerts" by the dog — that police had no probable cause to search the vehicle during a traffic stop on Interstate 81 in Wythe County.
"We should demand a better accuracy rate," assistant federal public defender Randy Cargill said in asking that the kilogram and a half of cocaine found in the back of Green's Lincoln Navigator be suppressed.
After hearing testimony and arguments in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Judge Glen Conrad said he will issue a ruling later in writing.
In other cases that have challenged the reliability of drug-sniffing dogs, courts have not settled on a precise number at which a pooch's performance fails the smell test.
But with a success rate of just 26 percent, Bono fares much worse than his police dog peers cited in other court decisions.
Still, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Neese defended the German shepherd's performance, noting that police dogs are trained to detect the odor of drugs — not their actual presence.
In some cases, she argued, the scent of cocaine or marijuana might linger in a vehicle after it has been removed, leading to a positive alert by the dog.
Prosecutors are urging Conrad to consider other factors, including Bono's high marks in training and certification programs run by the Virginia State Police, the agency that uses the dog.
In testimony Tuesday, Bono's handler, state Trooper Brian Dillon, did not dispute Cargill's calculations that drugs were seized just 26percent of the time that Bono alerted.
But he testified that variables such as wind and the possibility of well-hidden drugs in a car would affect the numbers cited by the defense.
"It's just a big game of hide-and-seek with the canine," Dillon said.
In the case at hand, Bono was summoned March17, 2011, after Green, 45, was stopped on suspicion of having illegally tinted windows and an obscured license plate while driving through Wythe County on the interstate.
As Bono circled the SUV, he "alerted" near the vehicle's rear passenger panel. When he smells drugs, "Bono gets excited, his tail starts wagging, his whole demeanor changes," Dillon testified.
After the dog let out a snort and pawed at the vehicle, state troopers began a search despite Green's objections. (Police are not required to obtain warrants to search cars, given their mobility and reduced expectation of privacy. They must, however, have probable cause.)
In a duffel bag, police found about 1.5kilograms of cocaine.
However, there would be little additional evidence against Green should the drugs be thrown out on the basis of Bono's track record.
In arguing that the evidence should be suppressed, Cargill pointed out that 74percent of the people who had their cars searched by the dog were never arrested.
"The whole purpose of this is to protect against unreasonable searches," he said.
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But how reliable is that nose? That was the question raised Tuesday in federal court during a hearing for Herbert Green, who was arrested last year after Bono indicated that he smelled cocaine inside his sport utility vehicle.
Green's lawyer is arguing that Bono has such a bad record — drugs were found just 22 times out of 85 "alerts" by the dog — that police had no probable cause to search the vehicle during a traffic stop on Interstate 81 in Wythe County.
"We should demand a better accuracy rate," assistant federal public defender Randy Cargill said in asking that the kilogram and a half of cocaine found in the back of Green's Lincoln Navigator be suppressed.
After hearing testimony and arguments in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Judge Glen Conrad said he will issue a ruling later in writing.
In other cases that have challenged the reliability of drug-sniffing dogs, courts have not settled on a precise number at which a pooch's performance fails the smell test.
But with a success rate of just 26 percent, Bono fares much worse than his police dog peers cited in other court decisions.
Still, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Neese defended the German shepherd's performance, noting that police dogs are trained to detect the odor of drugs — not their actual presence.
In some cases, she argued, the scent of cocaine or marijuana might linger in a vehicle after it has been removed, leading to a positive alert by the dog.
Prosecutors are urging Conrad to consider other factors, including Bono's high marks in training and certification programs run by the Virginia State Police, the agency that uses the dog.
In testimony Tuesday, Bono's handler, state Trooper Brian Dillon, did not dispute Cargill's calculations that drugs were seized just 26percent of the time that Bono alerted.
But he testified that variables such as wind and the possibility of well-hidden drugs in a car would affect the numbers cited by the defense.
"It's just a big game of hide-and-seek with the canine," Dillon said.
In the case at hand, Bono was summoned March17, 2011, after Green, 45, was stopped on suspicion of having illegally tinted windows and an obscured license plate while driving through Wythe County on the interstate.
As Bono circled the SUV, he "alerted" near the vehicle's rear passenger panel. When he smells drugs, "Bono gets excited, his tail starts wagging, his whole demeanor changes," Dillon testified.
After the dog let out a snort and pawed at the vehicle, state troopers began a search despite Green's objections. (Police are not required to obtain warrants to search cars, given their mobility and reduced expectation of privacy. They must, however, have probable cause.)
In a duffel bag, police found about 1.5kilograms of cocaine.
However, there would be little additional evidence against Green should the drugs be thrown out on the basis of Bono's track record.
In arguing that the evidence should be suppressed, Cargill pointed out that 74percent of the people who had their cars searched by the dog were never arrested.
"The whole purpose of this is to protect against unreasonable searches," he said.
Interesting article. Please contact us if you need legal advice.
Tucker Griffin Barnes P.C.
Charlottesville, VA (434-973-7474)
Inquire@TGBLaw.com
www.TGBLaw.com
www.Facebook.com/TuckerGriffinBarnes
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