Opinion ID: 2997534
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Calhoun’s Empirical Evidence

Text: Calhoun relies principally on the work of Dr. Charles Mesloh.5 See Charles Mesloh et al., Sniff Test: Utilization of the Law Enforcement Canine in the Seizure of Paper Currency, 52 J. FORENSIC IDENT. 704 (2002) (“Sniff Test”). Dr. Mesloh’s article at first glance seems to support Calhoun’s currency contamination argument because it cites several studies indicating that 70-90% of circulated paper currency in major U.S. cities is contaminated with trace amounts of cocaine. See id. at 721-22; see also Adam Negrusz et al., Detection of Cocaine on Various Denominations of United States Currency, 43 J. FORENSIC SCI. 626, 626-29 (1998) (finding cocaine in amounts up to 10 micrograms per bill on randomly selected general circulation currency). Calhoun also cites caselaw, including from this circuit, which seems to adopt the currency contamination theory and concludes that dog sniffs are entitled to little or no probative weight. See United States v. $506,231 in U.S. Currency, 125 F.3d 442, 453 (7th Cir. 1997) (“[W]e are unwilling to take seriously the evidence of the post-seizure dog sniff. . . . Even the government admits that no one can place much stock in the results of dog sniffs because at least one-third of the currency in the United States is contaminated with cocaine in any event.”); Muhammed v. Drug Enforcement Agency, 92 F.3d 648, 653 (8th Cir. 1996) (holding that a dog alert is “virtually meaningless” because an “extremely high percentage of all cash in circulation in America today is contami- 5 Dr. Mesloh holds a Ph.D. in Public Affairs and is an assistant professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. Dr. Mesloh is a former police officer with wide experience and scholarship in the practical uses of canines in support of law enforcement, including dog sniff searches. Dr. Mesloh appears to have coauthored the cited article while he was a candidate for his Ph.D. 14 No. 02-2899 nated with drug residue”); United States v. $5000 in U.S. Currency, 40 F.3d 846, 849 (6th Cir. 1994) (same); United States v. U.S. Currency, $30,060.00, 39 F.3d 1039, 1042 (9th Cir. 1994) (same). A closer read of Dr. Mesloh’s article, however, reveals that it does not support Calhoun’s contention that “widespread contamination of currency at levels detectable by a drugdetection dog renders insupportable any inference that the most recent holder of the currency was involved with illegal narcotics activity.” Rather, Dr. Mesloh’s article merely provides practical and helpful recommendations to law enforcement agencies in the wake of apparent judicial adoption of the currency contamination theory. See, e.g., Mesloh et al., Sniff Test at 708 (questioning Ninth Circuit conclusion that, given 75-90% contamination rate of currency, “it is extremely likely a narcotics detection dog will positively alert when presented with a large sum of currency”) (citing $30,060, 39 F.3d at 1043). Indeed, Dr. Mesloh himself suggests that dog sniffs are reliable even if a large proportion of circulated currency is tainted by narcotics. See Mesloh et al., Sniff Test at 708 (noting that “recent research has shown that dogs will not alert on large amounts of currency[,]” and that “the drug odor on which the dogs are trained to alert dissipates over time, leaving only trace amounts on currency[.]”). Dr. Mesloh also cites scientific studies concluding that dogs likely do not alert to cocaine itself but rather to methyl benzoate. See id. at 708-09 (citing the research of Dr. Kenneth Furton). Dr. Mesloh acknowledges scientific findings that methyl benzoate “was found to evaporate rapidly from the surface of paper currency at a rate of approximately 90% in 120 minutes” and allows that “research does suggest that methyl benzoate may be one of the components of the odor that dogs are trained to detect.” Id. at 709. Thus, Dr. Mesloh concludes, these scientific findings “restore the credibility of the canine sniff[,]” id., contrary to No. 02-2899 15 the view expressed by the Ninth Circuit in $30,060 and by other courts. See, e.g., $30,060, 39 F.3d at 1042-43. Therefore, we do not read Calhoun’s own proffered empirical evidence as bolstering his currency contamination theory. The cited work of Dr. Mesloh6 proposes practical solutions to reduce the likelihood that a court will overturn dog alerts on the basis of the currency contamination theory. See Mesloh et al., Sniff Test at 715 (“[A]ny agency that is intent on conducting drug money forfeiture must be aware of its obligations to scientific rigor. . . . If the [recommended] policies are implemented and maintained, a department will ultimately stand to benefit from the value of the property that has been seized and from more effective and cost efficient defenses of the seizures during judicial review.”).