Warrantless Search & Seizure – Suppression of Evidence

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Syed F. Ahmad

Case No.: 19-3290

Officials: SYKES, Chief Judge, and HAMILTON and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Warrantless Search & Seizure – Suppression of Evidence

A deputy sheriff on drug-interdiction duty in central Illinois observed an RV with a dirty license plate traveling on Interstate 72. He followed the RV as it exited the freeway and pulled into a truck-stop parking lot. The driver, Syed Ahmad, entered the convenience store with one of his passengers. When a store employee informed the deputy that the two men were acting strangely, the officer asked to speak with them before they reentered the RV. They agreed. After a few preliminary questions, the deputy asked for Ahmad’s driver’s license and the rental agreement for the vehicle. Ahmad produced the documents. The deputy then asked for consent to search the RV. Ahmad agreed, but the deputy did not immediately conduct a search. Instead, he called for a K-9 unit.

The unit arrived a few minutes later, and Ahmad agreed to a dog sniff of the RV. The dog quickly alerted. At that point—about 15 minutes into the encounter—Ahmad was detained while the deputy searched the RV, where a large quantity of marijuana was discovered. Ahmad was indicted for possession of more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. He moved to suppress the drugs, arguing that his consent to search was involuntary because he had already been seized for Fourth Amendment purposes at the moment the deputy retained his driver’s license and the RV rental agreement. The district judge disagreed and denied the motion. Ahmad pleaded guilty but reserved the right to appeal the denial of suppression.

We affirm. The deputy’s brief possession of Ahmad’s license and rental agreement did not transform this otherwise consensual encounter into a seizure. Ahmad voluntarily consented to both the external dog sniff and the search of the RV.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.