Travis Stacey Whitehead v. Virginia

November 9, 2009 – 5:55 am

Virginia Supreme CourtIn this case, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a positive alert on a vehicle by a trained narcotics detection dog, combined with the subsequent fruitless searches of the vehicle, the driver, and two other passengers, does not provide sufficient particularized probable cause to allow a search of the only remaining passenger in the vehicle.

Who would have thought this would ever happen. Remember now, the dog hit on the vehicle while the driver and passengers were still inside. A subsequent search of the vehicle and everyone but Whitehead did not yield any drugs. Finally Whitehead was searched and a couple of syringes and a beer bottle caps containing burnt residue were discovered in his front pocket. The residue was later tested and identified as heroin.

The Court ruled that, although the facts of this situation would provide a “strong suspicion” that the Whitehead was holding the drugs that cased the dog to alert, they failed to provide the particularized probable cause necessary to permit a search his person. Of course, we can look at this situation with 20-20 hindsight and ask, “Why didn’t they just run the dog by Whitehead to see if the dog would alert on him?” However, I am certain that it seemed reasonable to deduce that if everyone and everything involved in the situation had been search and no drugs were found, the drugs that caused the alert were probably on Whitehead.

Anyway, since the search was ruled to be in violation of the 4th Amendment, the evidence was thrown out and the case was dismissed.

I realize that cases like this can be frustrating to street cops who are out there trying to put a dent in the drug trade so let me give you a good analogy to help you keep your perspective.

Think of your job as a chess game. The game as rules and we have to follow the rules whether we agree with any particular rule or not. As the the game progresses, you may eventually put your opponent in check (arrest) but the game isn’t over. In this particular game, Whitehead was able to maneuver out of check and go free but the game continues. Eventually, like all the others, he will be put in checkmate (arrested and convicted) and the game will start again with a new opponent. This is our criminal justice system – it isn’t perfect but it one of the best in the world. Keep smiling!

Read Whitehead v. Virginia Ruling

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