March 13th, 2020

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United States v. Smith

Docket: 19-60340
Opinion Date: March 12, 2020
Judge: Stuart Kyle Duncan
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence, holding that law enforcement officers conducted a reasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment by extending a routine traffic stop. During the ten minute interval at issue, the record showed that the officer was waiting for in-depth background checks and was trying to secure consent to search the vehicle. Therefore, the officer did not act unreasonably by waiting to deploy his K-9 unit for the drug sweep.

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