Court Opinion

ID: 9622175
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:13:06.783947+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:38:39.972852
License: Public Domain

Opinion by
Justice SCOTT,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
Although I concur with the majority on the other issues, I must respectfully dissent in regards to the admissibility of evidence regarding arson dog alerts to the presence of accelerants where scientific tests do not confirm the presence of accel-erants in the samples taken from the sites alerted to.
At trial, it was acknowledged that the arson dog, PJ’s, arson detection skills had not been recertified for at least four months prior to the fire and she had never been trained on lighter fluid. She was having a bad day and was more interested in playing, than she was in investigating the fire.
At the trailer, she “wasn’t concerned,” and PJ’s handler had to “make PJ get her nose down” and reward her to get her to perform her sitting behavior. Only then did PJ sit at six locations in the trailer and receive six more food treats. No one, including PJ’s handler, Buster Cannon, retained any record of where, or how, or with what specific encouragement PJ sat down six times in the trailer. Samples were then collected for testing from the six spots where PJ sat down. Every one of the KSP lab results of these samples were negative for accelerants.
The KSP forensic lab has the ability to accurately identify accelerants in vapor given off by samples from the scene at concentrations as low as 15-20 parts per million. The ability to confirm the presence of these liquids at 15-20 parts per million is state-of-the-art science.
At the Daubert hearing, PJ’s handler admitted that, even regarding concentrations above 15-20 parts per million, he had no documentation of PJ’s accuracy rate, because he kept no log on PJ’s field work. He had rarely, if ever, received any follow*344up information that would inform him whether PJ was right or wrong in any cases PJ had worked. In fact, he admitted that, for all he knew, PJ could be “all wrong.” Yet, in closing argument, the Commonwealth drove home PJ the dog’s opinion at least five times, even though the KSP forensic lab results indicated that there were no ignitable liquids on a single scrap from the trailer.
Having grown up with, trained, and hunted scenting dogs most of my life, I believe there is a high probability that the specter of good ol’ PJ, mans’ best friend, who even the judge said would not lie,1 overshadowed all the other evidence in this case and played a highly prejudicial role in convincing the jury to convict Appellant of intentional arson. The belief of humanity in the extraordinary abilities of scent-tracking dogs is so trustful even, that we took judicial notice of their abilities over 100 years ago. Pedigo v. Commonwealth, 103 Ky. 41, 44 S.W. 143(1898).
This case, however, does not involve tracking dogs, which have proved their mettle over the centuries by locating prey, or the escapee, at the end of the trail. Nor does it involve questions of “probable cause” common to the use of narcotic alert dogs, who again alert to the existence of contraband, the existence of which is soon evident. See Morton v. Commonwealth, 232 S.W.3d 566, 569 (Ky.App.2007) (“when the drug dog detected the odor of drugs inside Morton’s vehicle ... Hord was provided with probable cause”). It deals with dogs trained under differing standards to alert to the presence of accelerants, something we can never see, but one which is fraught with the presence of the trust developed between us over thousands of years.
“[W]e [should] recognize that the real danger posed by admitting [such] evidence lies not simply in its fallibility, but in its potential to prejudice.” People v. Cruz, 162 Ill.2d 314, 205 Ill.Dec. 345, 643 N.E.2d 636, 662 (1994).
It is well known that the exercise of a mysterious power, not possessed by human beings, begets in the minds of many people a superstitious awe ... that they see in such an exhibition a direct interposition of Divine Providence in aid of human justice. The very name by which the animal is called has a direct tendency to enhance the impressiveness of the performance, and it would be dangerous in the extreme to permit the introduction of such testimony in a criminal case under conditions which did not fully justify its consideration....
Pedigo v. Commonwealth, 44 S.W. at 145-46.
In fact,
[The canine accelerant alert] program is built around the lab analysis of samples taken by investigators after the dogs key in on the location of residual accel-erants on a fire scene. Despite the dogs’ inherent ability to locate acceler-ants, lab analysis of samples is the key to the program’s success. “There are kind of two camps on the dogs’ use,” says Sgt. Jeff Howard, arson section manager with OSP [Oregon State Police], “The Connecticut State Police and the ATF [The Federal Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco Firearms] have stressed the party line from the beginning — the dog is just a tool. Period. He who uses the dog as an expert without lab confirmation is a fool.”
Kelly Andersson, Arson Dogs, Wildland Firefighter Magazine (1997), http://www. workingdogs.com/doc0130.htm. These are *345not my words, but the words of the Arson Section Manager of the Oregon State Police. Even the guideline “published by the National Fire Protection Association suggests that evidence of a canine alert that is not confirmed by laboratory testing should not be considered valid.” Commonwealth v. Crouse, 447 Mass. 558, 855 N.E.2d 391, 402 (2006).
“While the reliability of tracking dogs has been widely recognized and generally accepted by the courts, with thirty-two states approving of admissions of trailing by [dogs], courts have been much less receptive to accelerant-detection [canine alerts] not confirmed by laboratory analysis.” State v. Sharp, 395 N.J.Super. 175, 928 A.2d 165, 169 (Law.Div.2006). In fact, “[t]here is substantial scientific agreement that unconfirmed canine alerts are not reliable in the absence of laboratory confirmation, largely due to the fact the canines cannot meaningfully discriminate between background pyrolysis products [those created by the combustion] and accelerants.” Id. at 170, 928 A.2d 165; see also John D. DeHaan, Kirk’s Fire Investigation 543 (6th Ed.2006) (“without a specific verifiable identification of just what is present [by a lab], the investigator cannot decide the significance of such positive alerts”).
Most courts that have considered the issue of uncorroborated canine accelerant alerts have found them to be novel scientific evidence, not generally accepted in the scientific community of arson investigators. See Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Foote, 341 Ark. 105, 14 S.W.3d 512 (2000) (holding that testimony that accelerant detection canine is more reliable than laboratory equipment is without scientific validity); Carr v. State, 267 Ga. 701, 482 S.E.2d 314 (1997) (holding that reliability of uncorroborated canine alerts is questionable); Sharp, 928 A.2d at 171; State v. Webber, 716 A.2d 738, 741-742 (R.I.1998) (reversing conviction under balancing test of R.I. Rule of Evidence 403 where lab tests of alert areas were negative for accelerants); People v. Acri, 277 Ill.App.3d 1030, 214 Ill.Dec. 761, 662 N.E.2d 115 (1996) (stating that uncorroborated alerts are not generally accepted); State v. Schultz, 58 P.3d 879, 885 (Utah App.2002) (stating that uncorroborated alert is “novel scientific evidence”): see also Fitts v. State, 982 S.W.2d 175, 183 (Tex.App.1998) (“[canine’s] reliability was ... evidenced by the laboratory test showing the presence of gasoline at the scene.”): but see State v. Butter, 517 N.W.2d 711 Qa.1994) (requiring dog accuracy foundation be laid in making determinations of admissibility subject to Iowa Rule of Evidence 403 balancing test); Commonwealth v. Crouse, 447 Mass. 558, 855 N.E.2d 391 (2006) (permitting testimony of accelerant detection despite an absence of lab results where gas station surveillance video tape showed the defendant pumping gasoline into the right rear cargo area of the truck in the exact area of the dog’s alert along with statements of the defendant that he had purchased the gasoline); Commonwealth v. Gwynn, 555 Pa. 86, 723 A.2d 143, 152 (1999) (admitting evidence of unconfirmed canine accelerant alert in trial where Appellant’s confession indicated he had poured the gasoline and ignited the fire accidentally); Fanes v. State, 765 So.2d 849, 850 (Fla.App.2000) (permitting testimony of accelerant dog alert despite absence of lab results).
In Debruler v. Commonwealth, 231 S.W.3d 752, 757 (Ky.2007), we held that testimony relating to a scent-tracking dog’s action “concerned the results of an investigative technique, not a scientific procedure.” Yet here, by approving testimony of canine accelerant alerts without lab verification, we are supplanting scientific procedure with an investigative technique. I can not be a party to this until testimony regarding such unconfirmed *346alerts is generally accepted in the scientific community of arson investigators. See Kumho Tire Co., Ltd. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 119 S.Ct. 1167, 143 L.Ed.2d 238 (1999); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Thompson, 11 S.W.3d 575 (Ky.2000). For these reasons, I record my dissent.
NOBLE, J., joins this dissent.

. "[D]ogs are such honest animals. They don’t lie unless they want food.”