COURT: USE OF DRUG DOG DIDN'T VIOLATE RIGHTS

SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois Supreme Court reversed an earlier ruling
Thursday and upheld the conviction of a man arrested after a
drug-sniffing dog alerted police to marijuana in his vehicle during a
routine traffic stop.

By a 4-3 vote, justices decided that Roy Caballes's rights of privacy
and protection from an unreasonable search were not violated during
his 1998 arrest on Interstate 80 in LaSalle County.

In 2003, the state Supreme Court ruled that Caballes's rights had
been violated and overturned his conviction. In January, the U.S.
Supreme Court vacated that ruling and sent his case back to the state
Supreme Court for further action.

Caballes, who lived in Las Vegas, was stopped by Illinois State
Police for driving 6 miles per hour over the speed limit on I-80 in
1998. When the trooper radioed a dispatcher, another officer with a
drug dog overheard the transmission and drove to the site. While
Caballes was being given a citation, the drug dog, Krott, circled the
car and detected drugs. The officers discovered more than 280 pounds
of marijuana in the trunk.

Caballes was convicted of drug trafficking in 1999 and sentenced to
12 years in prison.