TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Court: Dog's Drug Alert Can Be Part of Probable Cause for Search

Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Aug 27, 2024

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that an alert from a trained drug-sniffing dog can be considered an element of probable cause for a search even though the dog cannot tell the difference between illegal marijuana and legal hemp. The decision stems from a February 2020 traffic stop during which an officer smelled a strong odor in the car and a drug dog "alerted" on the presence of drugs. A passenger's backpack was confiscated and found to contain one ounce of marijuana, a loaded firearm, Ziploc bags and a working scale. The passenger was charged with, among other things, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of a firearm with intent to go armed during a dangerous felony. The defendant attempted to have the backpack's contents excluded from evidence, arguing that the dog could not tell the difference between illegal marijuana and hemp. The trial court agreed and suppressed the evidence. The state appealed and the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed, finding the dog's alert provided sufficient cause for the search. The Supreme Court agreed that there was sufficient cause for the search but clarified that the dog's alert did not on its own justify law enforcement's actions. Rather, it found that the totality of the circumstances, including the dog's alert and other suspicious elements, gave the officers probable cause.

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