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Officer's Sniff Inside Car Was An Unconstitutional Search

By Shari Allison

US v. Montes-Ramos, 2009 WL 3138866 (10th Cir. 2009) (unpublished): The Tenth Circuit reversed the district court's denial of the defendant's suppression motion. It was reasonable for the deputy to stop Mr. Ramos in the bootheel area when his temporary license plate was flapping and not legible as required by state law. However, the officer leaned into Mr. Ramos' car and after that smelled marijuana. That was a search, albeit minimal, that was without probable cause. The government failed to make any of the arguments that might have compelled affirmance. Thus, the majority had to reverse. Briscoe dissented and would have found probable cause to search.

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on October 05, 2009 (boomark / email).