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Dog Alert Sufficiently Reliable Despite Dog's Health Issues

By Shari Allison

US v. Bertram, 2009 WL 74477 (10th Cir. 1/13/2009) unpublished: Defendant's convictions for felon in possession of a firearm are affirmed. The guns were found after a dog alerted to the car during a traffic stop. Read this case if you have a dog alert issue.Defendant contended there was no probable cause because the dog (named Taz) was unreliable and the officers knew it. The record showed that Taz had a degenerative health condition which resulted in his being put to sleep just a few months after the alert at issue. However, the magistrate judge had denied the motion to suppress based on the dog's record in the field and its certification. Interestingly, somehow the attorney managed to obtain disclosure of the dog's record of false alerts...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on January 15, 2009 (boomark / email).