By: Derek Hawkins//August 3, 2015//
Criminal
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Opinions: WOOD, Chief Judge, and FLAUM and MANION, Circuit Judges
Drug Detection Drugs – Probable Cause
No. 13-2995 United States of America v. Larry Bentley, Jr.
Drug detection dogs 59.5% field accuracy rate good enough to support finding of probable cause.
“Even if we were to ignore Harris and focus on Lex’s 59.5% field-accuracy rate, though, that rate is good enough to support a finding of his reliability and thus to allow his alert to constitute a significant piece of evidence supporting the ultimate conclusion of probable cause. In the past, we have concluded that a 62% success rate in the field is enough to prevail on a preponderance of evidence, and we have gone on to note that “’probable cause’ is something less than a preponderance.” United States v. Limares, 269 F.3d 794, 798 (7th Cir. 2001) (citation omitted). Other circuits have accepted field detection rates less than Lex’s 59.5%. See, e.g., United States v. Holleman, 743 F.3d 1152, 1157 (8th Cir. 2014) (57%); United States v. Green, 740 F.3d 275, 283 (4th Cir. 2014) (43%). This should not become a race to the bottom, however. We hope and trust that the criminal justice establishment will work to improve the quality of training and the reliability of the animals they use, and we caution that a failure to do so can lead to suppression of evidence. We will look at all the circumstances in each case, as we must.”
Affirmed.