drug dogs
Canines need not be exact, says Fairfax criminal lawyer
Canines for odor can be Virginia criminal defendants' worst nightmare. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I am beside myself in disappointment that the Virginia Court of Appeals upheld a drug dog search finding methamphetamine and cocaine in the sunglasses compartment of an automobile, even though...
Drug dog sniffs – Fairfax criminal lawyer on their limits
Drug dog sniffs -- and all canine searches (for instance also for weapons and contraband -- need to be challenged by criminal defendants found with contraband as a result of such sniffs. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that the federal Supreme Court enunciated...
Warrantless searches- Fairfax criminal lawyer challenges them
Warrantless searches (WS's) of people are so commonplace that it is important to underline that probable cause alone does not justify a warrantless search of the person's body and clothing without an accompanying arrest. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I read with satisfaction this week's...
Virginia criminal defense — More on search limits on police following a positive drug dog alert
Using police drug sniffing dogs is fraught with unreliability. as further addressed here, here, and here. Despite this unreliability, Virginia law poses substantial hurdles to a criminal defendant's obtaining by a records subpoena data about the training and performance of the case's drug dog. Fortunately...