9th Cir.;
15-16600

The court of appeals affirmed district court orders. The court held that coordinated traffic stops, the first of which was clearly unlawful, violated the Fourth Amendment and warranted the return of money seized in the ensuing search.

A police officer stopped Straughn Gorman on Interstate-80 outside Wells, Nevada for a minor traffic infraction. The officer came to think that Gorman might be carrying drug money. Acting on this concern, he unsuccessfully attempted to summon a drug-sniffing dog and then prolonged Gorman's roadside detention, which lasted nearly half an hour, as he conducted a non-routine records check. Unable to muster a justification for searching the vehicle, he questioned Gorman further and finally released him without a citation. Undeterred, the officer then contacted the sheriff's office a city further along Gorman's route to request that one of their officers stop Gorman a second time. The first officer conveyed his suspicions that Gorman was carrying drug money, described Gorman's vehicle and direction of travel, and reported that his traffic stop had provided no basis for a search. “You're going to need a dog,” he said. A second officer, who had a dog with him, then made a special trip to the highway to intercept Gorman's vehicle. After the officer stopped Gorman's vehicle, the dog signaled the odor of drugs or drug-tainted currency. On the basis of the dog's alert, the second officer obtained a search warrant, searched the vehicle, and found $167,070 in cash in various interior compartments. No criminal charges were filed. Instead, the government attempted to appropriate the seized money through civil forfeiture.