Opinion

State v. Wallace

  • 372 Md. 137
  • 812 A.2d 291
  • 2002 Md. LEXIS 942
Court
Court of Appeals of Maryland
Filed
Dec 11, 2002
Status
Published
Author
Battaglia
On the bench
Harrell, Battaglia, Cathell
Cited by
72 cases
Authority
More cited than 9.8%

holding that a positive canine alert on a vehicle, without any other indicia of possession of contraband specifically related to the passenger, is insufficient to establish probable cause to search a non-owner, non-driver of the vehicle

How later courts described this case

  • holding that a positive canine alert on a vehicle, without any other indicia of possession of contraband specifically related to the passenger, is insufficient to establish probable cause to search a non-owner, non-driver of the vehicle
  • noting that “a canine sniff, in and of itself, is not a search for purpose of the Fourth Amendment”
  • noting that “canine sniff” of the vehicle “provided the police officers with probable cause to search the car,” but concluding that a canine alert on the exterior of a vehicle does not provide probable cause to search a particular occupant of that vehicle
  • stating that the law is settled that a positive canine scan for the presence of contraband provides probable cause for a search and seizure

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

HARRELL and BATTAGLIA, JJ.

dissent.

Dissenting Opinion by HARRELL, J., in which BATTAGLIA, J., joins

Consonant with my association with the dissent in Pringle v. State, 370 Md. 525, 556-66 , 805 A.2d 1016, 1033-40 (2002), I respectfully dissent in the present case. Although Pringle presaged the result in this case, I cling to a view that both it and this case are decided wrongly. In this case, I would adopt the reasoning of United States v. Klinginsmith, 25 F.3d 1507 (10th Circ.1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1059 , 115 S.Ct. 669 , 130 L.Ed.2d 602 (1994) and United States v. Garcia, 52 F.Supp.2d 1239 (D.Kan.1999) and reverse the Court of Special Appeals.

Judge BATTAGLIA authorizes me to state that she joins this dissent.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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