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W.D.Tex.: Dog alert on a commercial building is only a factor in PC; flight of occupants is exigent circumstance

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A dog alert on a large commercial building was not PC in itself, but it would be a factor in PC on the totality of circumstances. Here, there was. A dog sniff on a commercial building is constitutionally different than a home. A knock on the door is not a seizure. Flight of occupants was exigent circumstances. United States v. Olivas, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62270 (W.D. Tex. July 17, 2009): Given the totality of the circumstances, the Court holds that the alert of a trained detector dog for a controlled substance on the premises, the presence of a suspected drug trafficker on the premises, the flight of that suspect from the premises after acknowledging and ignoring identified law enforcement, and the suspect's subsequent false statements about his actions together demonstrate that the Agents had probable cause to enter the premises, seize the individuals and perform a security sweep of the premises...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 26, 2009 (boomark / email).