SUPREME COURT TO LOOK AT USE OF DRUG-SNIFFING DOGS BY POLICE

Case Involves Canine Detecting Drugs Outside of a Home

The Supreme Court announced Friday it will decide whether a
drug-sniffing police dog at the front door is the same as an
unconstitutional search of a home.

Miami police used a police dog named Franky after they received an
anonymous tip in 2006 that Joelis Jardines was growing marijuana
inside his home. As police and federal drug enforcement officers
surrounded the residence, Franky and two detectives approached the front door.

Franky was "alerted" to the odor of marijuana and one of the
detectives said he then smelled it, too. When no one answered the
door, police used the information to get a warrant, found 179
marijuana plants and arrested Jardines as he ran out the back door.

The Florida Supreme Court agreed with Jardines's assertion that the
use of a drug-sniffing dog based on an anonymous tip was an
unconstitutional intrusion into the sanctity of a private residence.

"To sanction and approve turning the 'dogs loose' on the homes of
Florida citizens is the antithesis of freedom of private property and
the expectation of privacy as we have known it and contrary to who we
are as a free people," Justice R. Fred Lewis wrote in concurring with
the court majority.

Florida, joined by 18 other states, told the Supreme Court that
allowing the ruling to stand would threaten a widely used
drug-fighting tactic and that it conflicts with the high court's precedents.

The justices have agreed that drug-sniffing dogs can be used in cases
involving traffic stops and inspecting luggage and packages. But the
Florida Supreme Court noted that a home is different, and that the
high court had ruled against the use of thermal devices to detect
heat that might be the result of marijuana-growing techniques inside
a private home.

Florida v. Jardines , which probably will be argued in April, is sure
to increase the fame of Franky, a chocolate Labrador retriever that
has since retired from police work. The Associated Press has reported
that the dog was responsible for the seizure of more than 2.5 tons of
marijuana, 80 pounds of cocaine and $4.9 million in drug-contaminated money.