POT-SNIFFING DOGS ON FERRIES OKAY

Judge Rules Police Dog's Discovery Of Marijuana In Minivan Is Not An
Illegal Search

NORTH VANCOUVER - A police dog taking a quick sniff around someone's car
and deciding it smells marijuana does not constitute an illegal search, a
North Vancouver judge has ruled.

Christopher Gregory Davis, 45, claimed it was unfair for West Vancouver
police dog Buzz to have sniffed out almost four kilograms of marijuana he
was carrying in his minivan while travelling on a ferry between Nanaimo and
Horseshoe Bay on July 22, 2002.

Davis was asleep in his van at the time Buzz and his handler began walking
the car decks in the hopes of identifying vehicles being used to transport
illegal drugs.

Buzz is trained to sniff out drugs and alerts his handler by sitting down
alongside the suspect vehicle.

When he came up to Davis's van he immediately showed interest.

Buzz went to an open window at the rear of the van and put his nose up to
the opening and immediately sat down.

Provincial Court Judge Jane Auxier said it was also clear to two officers
that there was a smell of marijuana coming out of the van.

They tapped on the driver's window and when Davis woke up told him he was
under arrest.

His vehicle was seized until the officers could obtain a search warrant
later in the day. When the van was searched they found 18 Ziplock bags
behind the driver's seat containing marijuana.

Davis, a resident of Lasqueti Island, cried foul and said that police had
violated his rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

Auxier said her first task was to determine if a dog sniffing out drugs
constitutes a search.

"The purpose of section 8 [of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms] is to
protect a person's privacy interests from unreasonable state intrusion,"
she wrote in her reasons for judgment.

In order to determine whether the dog's action constituted a search, she
said she had to decide if Davis had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

"I doubt anyone would argue against the premise that he had a reasonable
expectation of privacy respecting the interior of his vehicle. But what
about the air surrounding its exterior? -- air which contained the odour of
marijuana sensed by the dog," she asked.

She rejected Davis's application to have the evidence gained by the search
thrown out. Davis was found guilty of possession for the purpose of
trafficking and received a nine-month conditional sentence.