Opinion ID: 1310247
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: whether canine sniff of dwelling requires warrant

Text: The canine sniff in the instant case constituted a search, thus the next issue to be determined is whether that search was reasonable. I agree with the majority to the extent that they determine the search was unreasonable. However, I disagree with their reasoning that a canine sniff may be performed in an apartment hallway for the purpose of detecting contraband inside the dwelling without a warrant based on reasonable, articulable suspicion. Although I recognize that such a warrantless search may be appropriate in circumstances where the expectation of privacy is lower, I believe a search of a dwelling must be conducted pursuant to a warrant issued on the basis of probable cause. Although the majority recognizes that there is a greater expectation of privacy in a dwelling than in objects of a less intimate or transient nature, the majority nevertheless balances the interests of the individual and the government to conclude that a warrantless intrusion based on reasonable suspicion was the appropriate standard. I disagree with this analysis for two reasons. First, the analysis ignores the principle that searches and seizures without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable. See Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). Second, even if a balancing of interests is considered when a canine sniff occurs in circumstances involving a dwelling, I believe the interests of the privacy of the individual outweigh the government's interest in utilizing a canine sniff of a dwelling on anything less than a standard of probable cause. It cannot be denied that `[f]reedom from intrusion into the home or dwelling is the archetype of the privacy protection secured by the Fourth Amendment.' Payton, 445 U.S. at 587, 100 S.Ct. 1371. As such, [t]he Fourth Amendment protects the individual's privacy in a variety of settings. In none is the zone of privacy more clearly defined than when bounded by the unambiguous physical dimensions of an individual's homea zone that finds its roots in clear and specific constitutional terms: The right of the people to be secure in their ... houses ... shall not be violated. That language unequivocally establishes the proposition that [a]t the very core [of the Fourth Amendment] stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion. Silverman v. United States, 365 U.S. 505, 511, 81 S.Ct. 679, 5 L.Ed.2d 734.[T]he Fourth Amendment has drawn a firm line at the entrance to the house. Absent exigent circumstances, that threshold may not reasonably be crossed without a warrant. Payton, 445 U.S. at 589-90, 100 S.Ct. 1371. Accordingly, we have held that a warrantless search must be strictly confined by the exigencies which justify its initiation. State v. Illig, 237 Neb. 598, 467 N.W.2d 375 (1991), citing Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 98 S.Ct. 2408, 57 L.Ed.2d 290 (1978). United States v. Thomas, 757 F.2d 1359 (2d Cir.1985), and State v. Dearman, 92 Wash.App. 630, 962 P.2d 850 (1998), both concluded that a canine sniff of an area which involved a heightened expectation of privacy constituted a search and, therefore, required a warrant based on probable cause. This view is supported by Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321, 107 S.Ct. 1149, 94 L.Ed.2d 347 (1987), in which the U.S. Supreme Court was unwilling to expand the plain view doctrine to allow for a warrantless cursory inspection or something less than a full-blown search within a home on the basis of reasonable suspicion. 480 U.S. at 328, 107 S.Ct. 1149. The Court stated: We are unwilling to send police and judges into a new thicket of Fourth Amendment law, to seek a creature of uncertain description that is neither a `plain view' inspection nor yet a `full-blown search.' 480 U.S. at 328-29, 107 S.Ct. 1149. In the context of canine sniffs, it has been suggested that the area or object searched should be a determining factor in deciding whether a dog sniff must be supported by a warrant based on probable cause. For example, a search of a home or person should receive the greatest level of protection. However, a search of luggage at an airport is necessarily less intrusive because the privacy expectations of passengers are lowered and thus might be permissible based on reasonable suspicion. See Kenneth L. Pollack, Stretching the Terry Doctrine to the Search for Evidence of Crime: Canine Sniffs, State Constitutions, and the Reasonable Suspicion Standard, 47 Vand. L.Rev. 803 (1994). Courts that have adopted a reasonable suspicion standard have done so on the basis that under the facts presented, the search was reasonable due to a diminished expectation of privacy in the thing searched, the importance of the law enforcement interests at stake, and the minimal intrusiveness of the dog sniff. U.S. v. Whitehead, 849 F.2d 849 (4th Cir.1988). As a result, most of the cases that adopt a standard of reasonable suspicion involve canine sniffs that occurred in areas outside of an individual's residence and where expectations of privacy were lower. See, e.g., U.S. v. Whitehead, supra (passenger train sleeping compartment); Pooley v. State, 705 P.2d 1293 (Alaska App.1985) (checked airline luggage); People v. May, 886 P.2d 280 (Colo.1994) (express mail package); People v. Unruh, 713 P.2d 370 (Colo.1986) (safe in police custody); State v. Waz, 240 Conn. 365, 692 A.2d 1217 (1997) (U.S. mail parcel); State v. Pellicci, 133 N.H. 523, 580 A.2d 710 (1990) (automobile); Com. v. Johnston, 515 Pa. 454, 530 A.2d 74 (1987) (rented storage locker in public area). Other courts, however, indicate that the higher standard of probable cause would be applied in cases involving the search of a dwelling where the expectation of privacy was higher. See U.S. v. Whitehead, supra (holding that reasonable suspicion standard applied because train sleeping compartment was not analogous to higher expectation of privacy of hotel room). See, also, State v. Waz, supra (distinguishing sniff of mail parcel from heightened expectation of privacy seen in Thomas ); U.S. v. Roby, 122 F.3d 1120, 1126 (8th Cir.1997) (Heaney, J., dissenting) ([w]hile the use of trained dogs to detect narcotics is justifiable in airports or other public areas ... it should not be extended to permit governmental intrusion into the privacy of a hotel room). Of particular interest is a pair of cases from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania which illustrate the reasoning behind requiring a warrant based on probable cause when a dwelling or person is the object of the search but perhaps allowing a warrantless search based on reasonable suspicion when the privacy interests are lessened. The majority in the instant case relies on, and provides a lengthy quote from, the Pennsylvania case Johnston, supra . In Johnston, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania determined that a canine sniff of a public storage locker did not constitute a search under the U.S. Constitution but did constitute a search under the state constitution. The court then stated that it was unwilling to apply a balancing of interests in order to determine whether a sniff constituted a search because when making that determination, the balance has been struck by the Fourth Amendment itself. However, the court did find the balancing inquiry appropriate in determining whether the canine sniff search necessarily involved the full-blown warrant requirements of the Fourth Amendment. The court stated that much of the law enforcement utility of dogs would be lost if full-blown warrant procedures were required but also recognized that there had to be some restraint on the use of them. The court then concluded that under the facts of the case, the warrantless search of the locker was permissible because the officers had articulated a reasonable suspicion that drugs might be located in the storage locker and the officers were lawfully situated when they conducted the search. Although the majority opinion provides a lengthy quote from Johnston, supra, it does not cite the later Pennsylvania case of Com. v. Martin, 534 Pa. 136, 626 A.2d 556 (1993). In Martin, a warrantless canine sniff search was conducted on a satchel carried by an individual. The court stated that the middle ground approach taken in Johnston was appropriate in that case because the police intrusion was minimal, because the police intrusion was directed solely at contraband drugs, and because much of the utility of the drug detection dogs would be lost if a warrant was required. Martin, 534 Pa. at 136, 626 A.2d at 560. The court then noted, however, that the protection of the privacy interest one has in their person is a principal object of Fourth Amendment protection. Based on this heightened privacy interest, the court held that in order to conduct a canine sniff search on a person, the police must have probable cause to believe that the search will uncover contraband and that any further search of the person beyond that allowed by Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), must be pursuant to a warrant, although police could detain the subject for a reasonable time while they sought the warrant. The court further stated: We are mindful that government has a compelling interest in eliminating the flow of illegal drugs into our society, and we do not seek to frustrate the effort to rid society of this scourge. But all things are not permissible even in the pursuit of a compelling state interest. The Constitution does not cease to exist merely because the government's interest is compelling. A police state does not arise whenever crime gets out of hand. In fact, all today's holding requires is what police should themselves insist on: probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed or contraband is to be found before there is a police intrusion, beyond that permitted by Johnston and Terry, into one's person. [A] free society cannot remain free if police may use drug detection dogs or any other crime detection device without restraint. The restraint which we today impose on the use of drug detection dog searches of persons is modest enough, in light of our constitutional mandate. Martin, 534 Pa. at 145, 626 A.2d at 561. Thus, it is clear that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, when dealing with cases involving a heightened expectation of privacy, requires probable cause. I believe a rule allowing the warrantless canine search of an apartment based on reasonable suspicion is illogical and improper. Justifications stated by the court in Com. v. Johnston, 515 Pa. 454, 530 A.2d 74 (1987), and most others for the adoption of a reasonable suspicion standard are (1) in cases involving searches of public places or items such as luggage that are in transit, there is a diminished expectation of privacy in those items; (2) the concern that the utility of drug-detecting dogs will be lost if warrant procedures are required; and (3) the nature of the search is not intrusive, i.e., it does not require the opening of the object or the entrance to the place being searched and can only detect contraband. In the instant case, the expectation of privacy is heightened because it involves a residence. The protection of the privacy expectation an individual has of their person and in their dwelling are the core protections of the Fourth Amendment. The majority appears to recognize this, but moves away from the issue by referring to Ortiz' expectation of privacy in the hallway. I believe this reasoning is flawed. As previously discussed, the search in the instant case was not a search of the hallway. It was a search specifically aimed at contents inside Ortiz' apartment. Additionally, the difference between a public area, or an item in transit, and the hallway of an apartment building is significant. While it is shared by residents of the building and their guests, it does not experience the traffic of an airport or other public area. The existence of a semipublic hallway should not limit the expectation of privacy a person has in their apartment. As one justice has stated, I do not believe that the Fourth Amendment protects only those persons who can afford to live in a single-family residence with no surrounding common space. U.S. v. Roby, 122 F.3d 1120, 1127 (8th Cir.1997) (Heaney, J., dissenting). Next, little of the utility of drug detection dogs is lost by requiring a warrant prior to the canine sniff search of a dwelling, although this is a serious concern in cases of airport security and items being sent in the mail. For example, the expectation of privacy in luggage is lower than the expectation of privacy in a dwelling, while the police interests in utilizing canines to detect contraband in luggage is quite high due to the transient nature of the object searched. When a transient item is at issue, officers simply do not have the time or opportunities necessary to observe the owner of the luggage to the point where probable cause could be established. Thus, the use of a canine is of great utility to officers in cases with facts such as those in United States v.Place, 462 U.S. 696, 103 S.Ct. 2637, 77 L.Ed.2d 110 (1983), but is only one of a number of available investigative tools when a dwelling is concerned. Finally, although a canine sniff is certainly less intrusive than a full-blown search, it is in error to rely on this factor in cases involving core Fourth Amendment protections. Standing alone, this factor is not strong enough to justify allowing a warrantless canine sniff of a dwelling based on reasonable suspicion. To so hold would be tantamount to stating that the protections of the Fourth Amendment become lessened due to advances in investigative procedures. This is a position that I am not willing to subscribe to. Therefore, I concur in the result.