Constitutional principles may be involved in any kind of criminal case. When it comes to search and seizure issues related to traffic stops on the road, the issues can be complex. In recent times a number of search and seizure issues have risen to the United States Supreme Court.

In April, we discussed the McNeely decision that arose to the high court out of a Missouri DWI case. That decision clarified that routine DWI investigations are not necessarily immune from the warrant requirement when it comes to a DWI blood draw. Other issues have risen to the Supreme Court recently dealing with the issue of dog sniffs during a traffic stop.

Some kind of investigative stop in Miller County has led to a string of criminal charges against a Missouri man. Few details about what led to a traffic stop are chronicled in a media story about the basis of the investigatory stop. But, the Missouri Highway Patrol claims that authorities smelled some kind of odor raising the suspicion that drugs may have been inside the vehicle.

Miller County officials were notified of the traffic stop and a K-9 unit was brought in to conduct a dog-sniff of the vehicle. Authorities say that methamphetamine, unidentified pills, pot and weapons were found inside the car after law enforcement searched the vehicle.

Authorities accuse the Sunrise Beach, Missouri, man who was allegedly driving the car, of a number of felony offenses, including drug trafficking as a result of the investigatory stop. He was processed at the jail. Cash bail of $300,000 was set after the man was processed on the drug charges.

Source: KOMU, “Sunrise Beach Man Arrested for Drug Trafficking,” Brent Pearson, Dec. 23, 2013