Dog sniffs drugs in Illinois
State court may not follow high court.
Illinois Constitution might protect privacy rights against drug-sniffing dog.
SPRINGFIELD, Illinois - The Illinois Supreme Court does not have to follow in "lock step" with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that police may use drug-sniffing dogs at traffic stops, an attorney told the state court Tuesday.
The attorney, Ralph Meczyk, said the Illinois Constitution offers greater protection against invasion of privacy than federal law does. The state Supreme Court is the "final interpreter" of the Illinois Constitution, and nothing requires the Illinois Supreme Court to follow the lead of the U.S. Supreme Court, he said.
Meczyk asked the Illinois Supreme Court to throw out evidence against his client, Roy Caballes, who was convicted of drug trafficking in 1999 in LaSalle County. A police dog detected the drugs during a traffic stop, and Caballes has contended that amounted to an illegal search.
Illinois Solicitor General Gary Feinerman, representing the attorney general's office, urged the state Supreme Court to make a ruling that is consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court decision.
The Illinois state Supreme Court's duty is to interpret the Illinois Constitution as its framers intended, Feinerman said. Historical record clearly shows the framers did not intend for the state constitution's protections against an illegal search and seizure to exceed the federal protections, he said.
The case dates to 1998, when Caballes was pulled over by Illinois State Police for driving 6 mph above the speed limit on Interstate 80. As one Illinois trooper wrote Caballes a ticket, a second trooper arrived with Krott, a drug-sniffing dog.
Krott indicated drugs were in the trunk of Caballes' car, and police found more than 280 pounds of marijuana. Caballes, who was living in Las Vegas and headed to Chicago,Illinois, was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The Illinois case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In January, that court said a police dog may check a vehicle from the outside during a traffic stop, even if police have no reason to suspect the presence of drugs.
The U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to Illinois for further proceedings.
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