WASHINGTON, April 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will rule next term in an Illinois case to decide when police officers may use a drug-sniffing dog during a traffic stop.
The dispute is the latest in a long series of cases that determine how police interact with the public.
In November 1998, a state trooper stopped Roy Caballes for speeding in Lasalle County, Ill. While the trooper and Caballes were sitting in the patrol car, the trooper asked Cabelles whether he had ever been arrested and whether police could search his car. Caballes said no to both questions, court records show.
While the trooper wrote a warning ticket, another officer arrived with a drug-detection dog, which "alerted" at the car's trunk. Officers found marijuana inside.
A state judge refused to suppress the evidence, but the Illinois Supreme Court ruled the search was unconstitutional under U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
