The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined without comment to review a Maryland high-court decision that appellate courts must defer to trial judges’ determinations – unless clearly wrong – that a drug-sniffing dog was reliable.

Tagged with: canine drug-sniffing dogs drugs fourth amendment Supreme Court traffic stops

Appellate courts must defer to a trial judge’s determination that a drug-sniffing dog was reliable unless that finding was clearly wrong, Maryland’s top court has ruled in setting the review standard for the often-decisive factor in whether police had probable cause to search a vehicle.

Tagged with: canine drug-sniffing dogs drugs fourth amendment traffic stops

ANNAPOLIS – Appellate courts should review anew the qualifications of drug-sniffing dogs when determining if police had probable cause to search a vehicle based on the canines’ whiff, a defense attorney said Thursday in urging Maryland’s top court to question ...

Tagged with: drug-sniffing dogs fourth amendment probable cause

ANNAPOLIS – In a case addressing if canines need resumes, Maryland’s top court will consider the extent to which appellate courts can review a trial judge’s determination that a drug-sniffing dog was qualified to alert traffic police to an illegal ...

Tagged with: drug-sniffing dogs fourth amendment traffic stop