COURT CLARIFIES USE OF DRUG DOGS IN STOPS

ST. PAUL - Police don't need probable cause to let drug dogs sniff around
vehicles during traffic stops, but the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday
that officers can't just act on a whim.

Three people arrested two years ago in Cloquet for possessing marijuana
won't face drug charges stemming from a search of their car after a drug
dog detected the narcotics. An officer had a dog sniff around the outside
of the vehicle while his partner issued a warning for a burned out
headlight, the cause of the stop.

The Supreme Court reversed a Court of Appeals decision reinstating
dismissed charges against the three. A district court had earlier
suppressed the evidence and thrown out the case.

Even though probable cause of a crime isn't needed for a dog search without
consent, justices said the officers lacked "a reasonable, articulable
suspicion of drug-related criminal activity."

"While the officer need not have probable cause, the officer may not be
motivated by mere whim, caprice, or idle curiosity," Justice Russell
Anderson wrote.