Possession With Intent to Distribute More Than 100 grams of Methamphetamine
Motion to Suppress All Narcotics and Paraphernalia Granted.
C.K. was pulled over for failing to stop at a stop sign. After providing the officer with his valid license and registration, the officer did everything in his power to delay issuing C.K. a ticket. The officer’s leisure gave a fellow officer just enough time to arrive on scene and walk a K-9 around C.K.’s vehicle.
In his sworn police report, the K-9 officer claimed that upon sniffing C.K.’s vehicle the K-9 sat next to C.K.’s driver side door, signaling to the officers that he detected narcotics in the vehicle. C.K. was promptly searched and the officer seized what he claimed to be “the largest shard of methamphetamine” he had ever seen.
In a motion to suppress, Mr. Bolotin argued the K-9 never actually alerted to the smell of narcotics, therefore no probable cause to search C.K. existed, and the “largest shard of methamphetamine” must be suppressed. Notably, Mr. Bolotin pointed out the squad car video showed the K-9 never actually sat next to C.K.’s vehicle -the action the K9 was trained to do if he detected narcotics.
In an attempt to excuse the non-alert, the officer claimed his K-9 did not sit because there was a puddle on the ground and the ground was cold. The video did not show any puddle and an expert testified a properly trained K-9 would never fail to sit upon detecting narcotics no matter how wet or cold the ground was. The federal judge agreed and granted the motion to suppress the methamphetamine. Without the ability to admit the meth at trial, the United States was required to dismiss all charges.
