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State v. Allen

The records check on the stopped car's passenger was part of the authorized mission of the traffic stop and it did not unreasonably prolong the stop; accordingly, the free-air dog sniff, which the officer conducted while waiting for the results of the records check and which resulted in the discovery of marijuana, was constitutional and the defendants' motion to suppress the drug evidence should have been denied.

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A police officer initiated a traffic stop of the car being driven by appellee Patrick Scott, in which appellee Dorian Allen was a passenger. About eight minutes into the stop, the officer radioed for a computer records check on both Scott and Allen. While awaiting the response based on Allen’s out-of-state identification card, the officer conducted a free-air dog sniff of the car, and about 11 minutes into the stop, the dog alerted, giving the officer probable cause to continue the detention of Scott and Allen and to search the car. The search led to the discovery of almost 10 pounds of marijuana in the trunk and the arrest and indictment of Scott and Allen.

They moved to suppress the drug evidence on the ground that the traffic stop was unreasonably and thus unconstitutionally prolonged by the records check on the car’s passenger. The trial court granted the suppression motion. After the Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling in a divided decision, we granted certiorari, and we now reverse. As explained below, under the precedents of this Court and the United States Supreme Court establishing how the constitutionality of a traffic stop should be reviewed, it is clear in this case that the computer records check on the stopped car’s passenger was part of the authorized mission of the traffic stop, and it is also clear that the officer conducted the records check and the stop as a whole with reasonable diligence. Accordingly, the stop was constitutional, and Scott and Allen’s motion to suppress should have been denied.

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