Morgantown, W.V. cop pulls over a car for a broken taillight. The cop, concerned about the driver's nervousness, issues a warning citation and then uses his dog to sniff the car. The dog alerts on a passenger's backpack, which was then searched and turns out it had two guns in it, for which the passenger is later convicted. Passenger: there was no reasonable suspicion and this violates the Fourth Amendment. District court: Reasonable suspicion exits. Fourth Circuit: The cop needed reasonable suspicion to extend the stop for the dog sniff. And the driver's nervousness isn't enough, given that most everyone is nervous when interacting with the police. The dog sniff is suppressed and the conviction vacated.
The case is United States v. Miller, 21-4086 (4th Cir. Nov. 29, 2022).