United States v. Fuehrer, No. 16-1248 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendant pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and was sentenced to 188 months in prison. The court concluded that the traffic stop was not pretextual where the deputy's observation of the traffic violation based on his use of the radar gave him probable cause to stop defendant's vehicle, and his subjective intent to detain the vehicle for a dog-sniff search is irrelevant; another deputy arrived on the scene within two minutes and completed the tasks related to the traffic stop, writing defendant a warning after the dog sniff was complete and the dog had alerted to the presence of narcotics; and there is no evidence that the dog sniff unlawfully prolonged the traffic stop beyond what was necessary to complete the stop. Finally, the court concluded that defendant's prior state and federal offenses qualified as prior convictions under USSG 4A1.2(a)(2). Accordingly, the court affirmed the conviction and sentence.
Court Description: Melloy, Author, with Colloton and Shepherd, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. The police officer who stopped defendant had an objectively reasonable basis to believe defendant was speeding and the traffic stop was supported by probable cause and was not pretextual; the drug dog sniff in the case was performed while the ticketing officer was still performing the required paperwork in the case, and there is no evidence the dog sniff unlawfully prolonged the traffic stop beyond what was necessary to complete the stop; defendant's prior federal and state convictions were for separate offenses and were properly scored under Guidelines Sec. 4A1.2(a)(2).
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