Case Name: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Kelly Louise GRIFFIN, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2007-02-20
Citations: 949 So. 2d 309
Docket Number: No. 1D06-3154
Parties: STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Kelly Louise GRIFFIN, Appellee.
Judges: WOLF, J., concurring with written opinion; PADOVANO, J., concurring in result only with written opinion.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 949
Pages: 309–318

Head Matter:
STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Kelly Louise GRIFFIN, Appellee.
No. 1D06-3154.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
Feb. 20, 2007.
Bill McCollum, Attorney General, and William L. Nelson, III, Assistant State Attorney, Shalimar, for Appellant.
Ashley Smith Herndon of Dewrell & Herndon, Shalimar, for Appellee.

Opinion:
THOMAS, J.
The State appeals the trial court's order granting Appellee's motion to suppress evidence discovered as a result of a law enforcement's dog alert on her vehicle. The trial court found that the officers did not have probable cause to search Appellee because a dog alert provides probable cause to search only the car. Because we are constrained by Williams v. State, 911 So.2d 861 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005), we affirm the trial court's suppression of the evidence. Were we to address for the first time whether a dog alert provided probable cause to search Appellee, we would reverse the trial court's order based on Maryland v. Pringle, 540 U.S. 366, 124 S.Ct. 795, 157 L.Ed.2d 769 (2003), and Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. 405, 125 S.Ct. 834, 160 L.Ed.2d 842 (2005). We are foreclosed from reaching this decision in light of our prior precedent; therefore, we certify a question of great public importance and address this issue below, as the far-reaching implications of Pringle have not yet been analyzed by our court.
Because we affirm the trial court's ruling that the officers did not have probable cause to search Appellee, we do not need to reach the second issue on appeal, whether the trial court erred in finding that the length of Appellee's detention was unreasonable; however, we believe it is necessary to consider the second issue in the event of further judicial review, and find the trial court erred in ruling that the detention was unreasonable. The facts clearly show that any delay was de minim-is and not a constitutional violation. See State v. Williams, 565 So.2d 714 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990).
Facts and Procedural Background
A canine handler for the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Department stopped Appellee for speeding and failure to maintain a single lane. Five to ten minutes later, while writing the traffic citation, a second deputy arrived; because Department procedure requires that another officer be present for a dog sniff, the canine handler stopped writing Appellee's citation and walked the dog around the vehicle. The dog alerted to the odor or presence of contraband or narcotics on the driver's side of the car, where Appellee, as the sole occupant in the vehicle, was sitting during the entire episode. The canine handler testified that walking the dog around Appellee's car took between 20 to 90 seconds, and he completed writing the citation immediately following the walk-around. The canine handler acknowledged that before he walked the dog around Appellee's car, he had no reasonable, articulable suspicion to believe there was criminal activity afoot.
After the alert, the canine handler asked Appellee to step out of her vehicle. The second deputy conducted a pat-down search of Appellee, and a crack cocaine cylinder fell from her pants leg. No other contraband was found in the vehicle. Ap-pellee was arrested approximately 15 minutes after the traffic stop began and was then transported to the jail, where law enforcement officers discovered more "crack cocaine screens" and two Ritalin pills in her purse, for which she had no prescription.
Appellee was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance; she pled not guilty and filed a motion to suppress all drug evidence. At the suppression hearing, Ap-pellee did not raise any claim regarding the accuracy of the dog sniff, the training of the dog, or possible false alerts. The trial court ruled that the officers did not have probable cause to search Appellee's person and that the search occurred after an unreasonably lengthy detention of Ap-pellee. The State appeals both of the trial court's findings.
Dog Alerts and Probable Cause
We begin by recognizing that "the use of a well-trained narcotics-detection dog . during a lawful traffic stop, generally does not implicate legitimate privacy interests." Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. at 409, 125 S.Ct. 884 (citing United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696, 707, 103 S.Ct. 2637, 77 L.Ed.2d 110 (1983)). A person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in odors that emanate from a car in a public place. Hearn v. Bd. of Pub. Educ., 191 F.3d 1329, 1332 (11th Cir.1999). Once a dog alerts to a car, therefore, probable cause exists to search the car. Id. at 1333.
Appellee does not assert that the deputy lacked probable cause to believe she had committed traffic violations; neither does the State assert that any probable cause or reasonable suspicion existed, other than the dog sniff and alert, to justify the search of Appellee. The issue raised here is whether a properly trained narcotics-detection dog sniff and alert on Appellee's vehicle provided law enforcement with probable cause to search Appellee, the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle.
In Pringle, the Supreme Court held that when law enforcement officers discovered drugs in an armrest in the backseat of a vehicle and cash in the glove compartment, the officers had probable cause to arrest all the passengers if no passenger admitted ownership of the contraband, because the contraband could belong to any one of them. 540 U.S. at 374, 124 S.Ct. 795. Although probable cause in Pringle was established by an actual seizure of contraband, we believe that it is the existence of probable cause, not the extent of probable cause, which authorized the search. Here, the dog alert established probable cause that both the car itself and Appellee, as the sole occupant of the car, possessed contraband; therefore, the deputy not only had the lawful authority to search Appel-lee's car, but also probable cause to search Appellee.
However, under Williams, we must find that the dog alert provided probable cause to search Appellee's car, but not to search her person. 911 So.2d at 861. This court's opinion in Williams cites two Second District cases to support its holding: Cady v. State, 817 So.2d 948 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002), and Bryant v. State, 779 So.2d 464 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000); however, the Second District recently noted that Prin-gle "may have effectively overruled our precedent involving circumstances similar to those presented here." Perry v. State, 916 So.2d 835, 839 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005). Although the Second District ultimately found that Pringle did not overrule its prior precedent, we would find that the cases this court relied on in Williams are no longer persuasive under Pringle.
In both Cady and Bryant, the Second District was concerned that a defendant should not be subjected to a search if it is possible that the narcotics odor is residual and does not necessarily belong to the defendant. In our view, however, that possibility does not detract from the possibility that the car or the passengers possess contraband. Quite the contrary; as one court has noted, the power of a well-trained narcotics-detection dog to alert the residue of contraband only increases the possibility that the car contains contraband. State v. Cabral, 159 Md.App. 354, 859 A.2d 285, 300 (2004) (stating that the fact that a trained dog is capable of detecting odors up to 72 hours after contraband is present in the vehicle only strengthens the probable cause finding due to the dog's superior sense of smell); accord U.S. v. Johnson, 660 F.2d 21, 23 (2d Cir.1981) (noting the fact that a dog can alert to residual odors "misconstrues the probable cause requirement. Absolute certainty is not required by the Fourth Amendment. What is required is a reasonable belief that a crime has been or is being committed."). Here, the fact that the dog alert may have been in response to contraband no longer present in the car does not mean that law enforcement failed to rely on a reasonable probability that contraband was present on Appellee's person or in her car.
Additionally, other courts have upheld searches involving similar facts to those presented here. See State v. Ofori, 170 Md.App. 211, 906 A.2d 1089, 1099 (2006) (holding that the Pringle decision is "absolutely dispositive" in establishing that a dog alert on a car provides probable cause to search the driver and passengers because of the "close association" between the contraband and the car's occupants). See also United States v. Klinginsmith, 25 F.3d 1507 (10th Cir.1994) (explaining that a dog alert to a car provided probable cause to arrest the defendant). In Ofori, the Maryland court explained that "either finding the drugs in the vehicle, as in Pringle, or probable cause to believe that they are in the vehicle, as in this case, necessarily implicates the driver and passengers." 906 A.2d at 1099.
We believe that our decision in Williams cannot be squared with the holding in Pringle and its definition and discussion of probable cause. In Pringle, the Supreme Court stated that the "standard of probable cause protects 'citizens from rash and unreasonable interferences with privacy and from unfounded charges of crime,' while giving 'fair leeway for enforcing the law in the community's protection.'" 540 U.S. at 370, 124 S.Ct. 795 (quoting Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 176, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949)). The Court recognized that it had repeatedly held that probable cause is a "practical, nontechnical conception that deals with the factual and practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonable and prudent men, not legal technicians, act." Id. (internal quotations omitted). "The probable-cause standard is incapable of precise definition or quantification into percentages because it deals with probabilities and depends on the totality of the circumstances." Id. at 371, 124 S.Ct. 795. The underlying " 'substance of all the definitions of probable cause is a reasonable ground for belief of guilt' . and that the belief of guilt must be particularized with respect to the person to be searched or seized.' " Id. (citing Brinegar, 338 U.S. at 175, 69 S.Ct. 1302; Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85, 91, 100 S.Ct. 338, 62 L.Ed.2d 238 (1979)). Most importantly, the probable cause standard is not synonymous with " 'the quanta . of proof appropriate in ordinary judicial proceedings" and "standards such as proof beyond a reasonable doubt or by a preponderance of the evidence, useful in formal trials, have no place in the [probable cause] decision.' " Id. (quoting Brinegar, 338 U.S. at 173, 69 S.Ct. 1302; and Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 235, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983)) (emphasis added).
The facts and principle announced in Pringle are instructive here. In Pringle, the police seized evidence of a crime from a car with multiple passengers; here, based on the dog alert, police had probable cause to believe evidence of a crime existed either in the vehicle or on Appellee's person. In both Pringle and here, law enforcement had a reasonable belief that the passengers in the car had committed or were committing a crime which provided the probable cause to search and arrest the defendants.
We find that other courts' reliance on theoretical possibilities, such as "residual odor," Bryant, 779 So.2d at 465, or statements such as "proximity to contraband is insufficient to establish constructive possession," Cady, 817 So.2d at 949, in evaluating probable cause are simply untenable in light of Pringle. Such analyses are technical in nature and more appropriate in criminal trials in which guilt beyond a reasonable doubt must be determined, not in trial courts considering motions to suppress. We believe the Second District was correct to question the viability of its precedent under Pringle, even if it ultimately disagreed. See Perry, 916 So.2d at 839. We think the Second District's analysis in Bryant and Cady, and our reliance on such authority in Williams, runs afoul of the Supreme Court's holding by confusing the quanta of proof necessary for conviction with the quanta of proof necessary to support a finding of a "reasonable ground for belief of guilt" that a person possesses contraband.
Here, there was a reasonable ground for belief that Appellee possessed contraband. Appellee was alone in the vehicle, was sitting in the area where the dog alerted during the walk around, and admitted to being the primary driver of the vehicle. Under Pringle and related cases, we would find that a trained dog alert provides probable cause to search a driver who is the sole occupant of the car.
We find the rationale and analysis in Ofori particularly persuasive, especially its understanding and analysis of the holding in Pringle:
The Supreme Court's decision in Maryland v. Pringle is absolutely dispositive. Because of the close association between contraband in a vehicle and the driver of (or other passenger in) the vehicle, either finding the drugs in the vehicle, as in Pringle, or probable cause to believe that they are in the vehicle, as in this case, necessarily implicates the driver and passengers. Whatever the level of certainty we have reached with respect to the presence of contraband itself, its association with the occupants of the vehicle is the same. In terms of that inculpatory association, the Supreme Court's unanimous opinion observed:
We think it an entirely reasonable inference from these facts that any or all three of the occupants had knowledge of, and exercised dominion and control over, the cocaine. Thus, a reasonable officer could conclude that there was probable cause to believe Pringle committed the crime of possession of cocaine, either solely or jointly.
540 U.S. at 372, 124 S.Ct. 795.
In any event, we are applying the law as we laid it down in State v. Funkhouser, 140 Md.App. 696, 721, 782 A.2d 387 (2001):
The probable cause developed by the initial canine "alert" was at one and the same time probable cause to believe both 1) that drugs were probably then in the car and 2) that its driver and sole occupant probably was then or recently had been in unlawful possession of those drugs.
The fact that the appellee here was not the "sole occupant," but only one of two, does not alter the result.
Ofori, 906 A.2d at 1099-1102 (emphasis omitted) (internal citations omitted).
It is our belief that once the officers searched Appellee's car and found no contraband, the officers then not only had the authority, but also the duty, to search Ap-pellee. When the dog alerted, there was probable cause that contraband was in the car; once the car was cleared, by the process of elimination, probable cause then existed to search Appellee.
Our constitution requires us to construe the right to be free from unreasonable searches or seizures "in conformity with the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court." Art. 1, § 12, Fla. Const. See Golphin v. State, 945 So.2d 1174, 1190 (Fla.2006) ("[B]y Florida constitutional mandate [in article I, section 12] we are not free to follow the interpretative path of . other states and must be firmly tied to the interpretative construct of our United States Supreme Court decisions."). Although we are bound by our prior precedent, we believe such precedent is contrary to prevailing Fourth Amendment doctrine; therefore, we find that this case presents a question of great public importance, which we certify to the Florida Supreme Court.
Unreasonable Detention
As mentioned above, we would reverse the trial court's ruling that the dog sniff occurred after an unreasonable detention of Appellee. We find the following brief description of the legal principles applicable to this issue succinct and correct:
A canine sniff of the exterior of a car conducted during a traffic stop that is lawful at its inception and otherwise executed in a reasonable matter does not infringe upon a constitutionally protected interest in privacy. Such a dog sniff may be the product of an unconstitutional seizure, however, if the traffic stop is unreasonably prolonged before the dog is employed. Once an officer has decided to permit a routine traffic offender to depart with a ticket, a warning, or an all clear, the Fourth Amendment applies to limit any subsequent detention or search. We recognize, however, that this dividing line is artificial and that dog sniffs that occur within a short time following the completion of a traffic stop are not constitutionally prohibited if they constitute only de minimis intrusions on the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights.
U.S. v. Alexander, 448 F.3d 1014, 1016 (8th Cir.2006) (internal citations omitted).
In Alexander, the police detained a driver for "at most" four minutes after informing him that he would receive a warning ticket. The court noted that while the Supreme Court in Caballes was not required to address the question of whether a dog sniff conducted after a traffic stop was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court did note that "conducting a dog sniff would not change the character of a traffic stop that is lawful at its inception and otherwise conducted in a reasonable manner." Alexander, 448 F.3d at 1017 (quoting Caballes, 543 U.S. at 408, 125 S.Ct. 834). Thus, the Eighth Circuit stated, "It is precisely this reasonableness inquiry that led us to recognize . that the artificial line marking the end of a traffic stop does not foreclose the momentary extension of the detention for the purpose of conducting a canine sniff of the vehicle's exterior." Id.
Here, the trial court found that Appellee's traffic stop was unreasonably delayed because the officer stopped writing the ticket in order to conduct the walk-around. We disagree. "[T]he mere fact that the officer interrupted his writing of the citation in order to accomplish the drug sniff . did not unnecessarily extend the traffic stop." State v. Brown, 691 So.2d 637, 638-39 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997); cf. U.S. v. Boyce, 351 F.3d 1102 (11th Cir. 2003) (holding that driver was unreasonably detained where the officer issued a warning ticket, informed the driver that a dog had been called to conduct a search, waited six minutes to check the driver's criminal history, then waited another six minutes before conducting the dog sniff). Importantly, nothing in the record here supports a factual finding that the stop was conducted in an unreasonable manner or improperly delayed. The canine officer testified he did not recall even asking for back-up assistance, and there is no evidence he was stalling to allow a cover officer to arrive. Any slight delay was not unreasonable. If any intrusion into Appel-lee's liberty interests occurred, it was de minimus and, therefore, not unconstitutional. Williams, 565 So.2d at 714.
Because this case presents a question of great public importance, we certify the following question to the Florida Supreme Court in accordance with Article V, section 3(b)(4) of the Florida Constitution and Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.030(a)(2)(A)(v):
WHETHER, UNDER THE FOURTH AMENDMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, A TRAINED NARCOTICS-DETECTION DOG ALERT OF A VEHICLE PROVIDES PROBABLE CAUSE TO SEARCH THE VEHICLE'S DRIVER WHO IS ALSO THE SOLE OCCUPANT OF THE VEHICLE?
AFFIRMED; QUESTION CERTIFIED.
WOLF, J., concurring with written opinion; PADOVANO, J., concurring in result only with written opinion.