People v. Dunn

OPINION OF THE COURT

Titone, J.

In recent years, law enforcement officers have increasingly turned to specially trained dogs to assist them in their efforts in the "war against drugs.” The present appeal raises the question of whether the use of these "canine cannabis connoisseurs” — as they have been termed 1 — to detect the presence of controlled substances in a person’s apartment is subject to the strictures of the Fourth Amendment of the Federal Constitution or article I, § 12 of the New York State Constitution. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that while the use of such dogs does…