People v. McKnight

COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS 2017COA93

Court of Appeals No. 16CA0050
Moffat County District Court No. 15CR16
Honorable Michael Andrew O’Hara, III, Judge

The People of the State of Colorado,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

Kevin Keith McKnight,

Defendant-Appellant.

JUDGMENT REVERSED AND CASE
REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS

Division II
Opinion by JUDGE DAILEY
Berger, J., specially concurs
J. Jones, J., specially concurs

Announced July 13, 2017

Cynthia H. Coffman, Attorney General, Paul Koehler, First Assistant Attorney
General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee

Douglas K. Wilson, Colorado State Public Defender, John B. Plimpton, Deputy
State Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant
¶1 Since 2012, it has not been a violation of Colorado law for

people who are at least twenty-one years old to possess up to one

ounce of marijuana for personal use. Colo. Const. art. XVIII,

§ 16(3)(a) (Amendment 64). To be clear, such possession is neither

a criminal violation nor a civil violation.

¶2 This case presents two questions arising from our state’s

marijuana laws and law enforcement’s use of dogs trained to detect

marijuana and other controlled substances. First, does deploying a

dog trained to detect marijuana to sniff a legitimately stopped

vehicle constitute a “search” for purposes of the constitutional

prohibitions of unreasonable searches? If so, law enforcement may

not deploy such a dog without reasonable suspicion of criminal

activity. Second, did the dog’s alert in this case give police probable

cause to search Kevin Keith McKnight’s truck given that the dog

was trained to alert if he detected either legal or illegal substances?

¶3 Two of us (Dailey and Berger, JJ.) agree with McKnight in

answer to the first question, that is, that under our state

constitution, the deployment of the dog here was a “search”

requiring reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. And because

the totality of the relevant circumstances did not give police

1
 reasonable suspicion to conduct a dog sniff of his truck, we

conclude that the district court erred in denying his motion to

suppress evidence found in the truck.

¶4 But two of us (J. Jones and Berger, JJ.) would also agree with

McKnight in answer to the second question, that is, that the dog’s

alert, in combination with the other relevant circumstances, did not

give the police probable cause to search his truck, and, for that

reason, the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress

evidence found in the truck.

¶5 Because all of us agree that the court’s error in denying

McKnight’s motion to suppress was not harmless beyond a

reasonable doubt, we reverse the district court’s judgment of

conviction and remand the case for further proceedings.

I. Background

¶6 The police recovered a pipe containing white residue from

McKnight’s truck. The People charged him with possession of a

controlled substance (based on the residue) and possession of drug

paraphernalia. McKnight moved to suppress the evidence found in

his truck, arguing that law enforcement officers violated his

constitutional rights by conducting a dog sniff of his truck without

2
 reasonable suspicion1 and by otherwise searching his truck without

probable cause.

¶7 At the suppression hearing, Officer Gonzales testified that he

saw a truck parked in an alley. The truck left the alley and

eventually parked outside of a house for about fifteen minutes.

This house, according to Officer Gonzales, had been the subject of a

search roughly seven weeks earlier that had turned up illegal drugs.

When the truck drove away, Officer Gonzales followed it, saw it turn

without signaling, and pulled it over.

¶8 McKnight was driving the truck. Officer Gonzales said he

recognized McKnight’s passenger from previous contacts with her,

“including drug contacts” involving the use of methamphetamine.

But when asked on cross-examination at what time, to his

knowledge, the passenger had last used methamphetamine, Officer

Gonzales declined to speculate about that and conceded that he

1 He argued that reasonable suspicion was necessary because the
dog sniff in and of itself was a “search” subject to state
constitutional protections; he did not argue (nor does he argue here)
that he was subjected to an unreasonably prolonged traffic stop.
See Rodriguez v. United States, 575 U.S. ___, ___, 135 S. Ct. 1609,
1614-15 (2015).

3
 was “just aware that at some point in the past she had been known

to [him] as a user of methamphetamine.”

¶9 At Officer Gonzales’ request, Sergeant Folks came to the scene

with his certified drug-detection dog, Kilo. Kilo is trained to detect

cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and marijuana. He

indicates that he has detected the odor of one of these substances

by exhibiting certain behavior — barking, for example. His

indicative behavior, however, does not vary based on the particular

substance or amount of the substance he has detected.

¶ 10 When Sergeant Folks deployed Kilo to sniff McKnight’s truck,

Kilo displayed one of his trained indicators. Officers then told

McKnight and the passenger to get out of the truck, searched it,

and found a “glass pipe commonly used to smoke

methamphetamine.”

¶ 11 After the district court denied McKnight’s suppression motion,

the case proceeded to trial. A jury convicted McKnight of both

counts.

4
 II. Discussion

A. Standard of Review

¶ 12 When reviewing a suppression order, we defer to the district

court’s factual findings as long as evidence supports them, but we

review de novo the court’s legal conclusions. Grassi v. People, 2014

CO 12, ¶ 11.

B. Was Kilo’s Sniff a Search?

¶ 13 The Federal and State Constitutions give people the right to be

free from unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const. amend.

IV; Colo. Const. art. II, § 7; People v. Zuniga, 2016 CO 52, ¶ 14.

¶ 14 “Official conduct that does not ‘compromise any legitimate

interest in privacy’ is not a search subject to the Fourth

Amendment.” Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. 405, 408 (2005) (quoting

United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 123 (1984)). Any interest

in possessing contraband is not legitimate. Id. And so official

“conduct that only reveals the possession of contraband” does not

compromise any legitimate privacy interest. Id. Applying that

reasoning, the United States Supreme Court has held that

employing a well-trained drug-detection dog during a lawful traffic

stop does not implicate the Fourth Amendment because that is not

5
 a search. Id. at 409-10. Likewise, our supreme court has held that

such a sniff is not a search under our state constitution. People v.

Esparza, 2012 CO 22, ¶ 6.

¶ 15 Indeed, in People v. Mason, 2013 CO 32, the supreme court

said:

It is now settled that walking a trained
narcotics detection dog around a car that has
not been unlawfully stopped or detained does
not implicate the protections of either the
Fourth Amendment or Article II, section 7 of
the state constitution.

Id. at ¶ 10.2

¶ 16 McKnight contends that a key premise underlying Caballes

and Esparza — that a dog sniff reveals only contraband — is not

2 In contrast, a government official’s walking a drug-detecting dog
around a residence would implicate Fourth Amendment
protections. See Florida v. Jardines, 569 U.S. ___, ___, 133 S. Ct.
1409, 1417-18 (2013) (house); United States v. Whitaker, 820 F.3d
849, 853-54 (7th Cir. 2016) (apartment). The difference is
attributable in large part to the different expectations of privacy
associated with a home and a car. See Jardines, 569 U.S. at ___,
133 S. Ct. at 1414 (“[W]hen it comes to the Fourth Amendment, the
home is the first among equals. At the Amendment’s ‘very core’
stands ‘the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be
free from unreasonable governmental intrusion.’” (quoting
Silverman v. United States, 365 U.S. 505, 511 (1961))); id. at ___
n.1, 133 S. Ct. at 1419 n.1 (“[P]eople’s expectations of privacy are
much lower in their cars than in their homes.”) (Kagan, J.,
concurring).

6
 true in this case. An alert from Kilo, he argues, is not so definitive:

it may reveal that a person possesses something legal (an ounce or

less of marijuana) or something illegal (illegal amounts of marijuana

or another controlled substance).

¶ 17 In neither Mason nor Esparza did the court address the effect

of Amendment 64, which changed the landscape upon which issues

of the type raised here are decided. For while possession of

marijuana by anyone in any amount remains a crime under federal

law, see 21 U.S.C. § 844(a) (2012), this is no longer the case under

state law. Because Amendment 64 legalized possession for

personal use of one ounce or less of marijuana by persons twenty-

one years of age or older in Colorado, it is no longer accurate to say,

at least as a matter of state law, that an alert by a dog which can

detect marijuana (but not specific amounts) can reveal only the

presence of “contraband.”3 A dog sniff could result in an alert with

respect to something for which, under Colorado law, a person has a

legitimate expectation of privacy, i.e., the possession of one ounce

or less of marijuana for personal use.

3No question has been raised in this case about whether
Amendment 64 is preempted by federal law.

7
¶ 18 Because a dog sniff of a vehicle could infringe upon a

legitimate expectation of privacy solely under state law, that dog

sniff should now be considered a “search” for purposes of article II

section 7 of the state constitution where the occupants are

twenty-one years or older. Cf. Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27,

34-40 (2001) (the use of a thermal imaging device to detect the

growth of marijuana in a home was a “search” under the Fourth

Amendment because the device was capable of detecting lawful

activity); see Curious Theatre Co. v. Colo. Dep’t of Pub. Health &

Env’t, 220 P.3d 544, 551 (Colo. 2009) (noting that local

circumstances may justify applying a provision in the state

constitution differently than a parallel provision in the Federal

Constitution); People v. Parks, 2015 COA 158, ¶ 21 n.3 (noting

instances where it was “decided that [a] governmental intrusion

constituted a search under the State Constitution even though it

did not constitute a search under the Federal Fourth

Amendment”).4

4 It would still not be considered a “search” under the Fourth
Amendment, though. No one could contend, for instance, that a
federal agent’s use of dog to sniff a car for the presence of any
amount of marijuana would constitute a “search” under the Federal

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 C. What Level of Justification Was Required for the Search?

¶ 19 Prior to Esparza, the supreme court had indicated that,

because of its minimally intrusive nature, a warrantless “search”

effected by a dog sniff had to be supported by “a reasonable

articulable suspicion that the item sniffed contains evidence of a

crime.” People v. Reyes, 956 P.2d 1254, 1256 n.1 (Colo. 1998),

abrogated by Esparza, 2012 CO 22; see also People v. Boylan, 854

P.2d 807, 811 (Colo. 1993) (“[A] dog-sniff search need be justified

not by probable cause sufficient to obtain a search warrant, but

instead by reasonable suspicion, similar to that required to stop

and frisk a person suspected of involvement in imminent criminal

activity.”), abrogated by Esparza, 2012 CO 22; People v. Unruh, 713

P.2d 370, 379 (Colo. 1986) (“[T]he balance between governmental

and individual interests in this case can best be struck by requiring

only reasonable suspicion as a prerequisite for the sniff search.”),

abrogated by Esparza, 2012 CO 22.

¶ 20 Based on this reasoning, we conclude that “reasonable

suspicion” is the state constitutional standard which applies to

Constitution. See Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. 405, 409 (2005).
And Fourth Amendment protections do not change simply because
the actor using a drug-detecting dog changes.

9
 searches effected by dog sniffs of the exterior of a vehicle. Thus, in

determining whether the police could subject McKnight’s truck to a

dog sniff, the question is whether, prior to the dog sniff, they had

grounds to reasonably suspect that evidence of illegal activity would

be found in the truck.

¶ 21 The reasonable suspicion standard requires “considerably less

than proof of wrongdoing by a preponderance of the evidence and is

less demanding even than the ‘fair probability’ standard for

probable cause.” People v. Polander, 41 P.3d 698, 703 (Colo. 2001)

(quoting Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 330 (1990)). It is satisfied

if “‘the police have specific and articulable facts, greater than a

mere hunch, to support’ their belief that the person to be stopped is

or may have been involved in criminal activity.” People v. Huynh,

98 P.3d 907, 912 (Colo. App. 2004) (quoting Boylan, 854 P.2d at

812).

¶ 22 “In considering whether reasonable suspicion exists, the court

looks at the totality of the circumstances, the specific and

articulable facts known to the officer at the time of the encounter,

and the rational inferences to be drawn from those facts.” People v.

Garcia, 251 P.3d 1152, 1158 (Colo. App. 2010).

10
¶ 23 Here, the pertinent circumstances known to the police before

the dog was called upon to sniff McKnight’s truck were that (1)

McKnight had sat parked for fifteen minutes outside a house in

which illegal drugs had been found seven weeks before and (2)

McKnight had a passenger in the truck who had used

methamphetamine “at some point in the past.” Those

circumstances did not raise a reasonable suspicion that evidence of

illegal activity would be found in McKnight’s truck. The officer

observed no one approach the truck from the house or approach

the house from the truck. The officer had no objective basis, then,

for suspecting that the truck’s occupants had taken drugs into the

truck from the house or from anywhere else for that matter.

¶ 24 Because, in our view, the police lacked the requisite

reasonable suspicion to subject McKnight’s truck to a dog sniff, the

dog sniff was invalid, and the methamphetamine recovered as a

result thereof should have been suppressed. The People do not

contend, and we cannot conclude, that “the evidence properly

received against [McKnight was] so overwhelming that the

constitutional violation was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.”

11
 Bartley v. People, 817 P.2d 1029, 1034 (Colo. 1991). We must

reverse. See id.

III. Conclusion

¶ 25 The judgment of conviction is reversed, and the case is

remanded for further proceedings consistent with the views

expressed in this opinion.

JUDGE BERGER specially concurs.

JUDGE J. JONES specially concurs.

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 JUDGE BERGER, specially concurring.

¶ 26 I agree with the majority’s holding that there was no

reasonable suspicion supporting the dog sniff and that reasonable

suspicion was required because the dog was trained to alert both to

contraband and non-contraband.

¶ 27 I write separately for two reasons. First, while I do not think it

is necessary to reach the probable cause determination — the issue

upon which Judge Jones would decide this case — I agree with

Judge Jones’ conclusion that probable cause was absent (although

it is a very close question).

¶ 28 Second, I think it is useful to explain how a person may have

an enforceable expectation of privacy under state law while federal

law provides no such reasonable expectation.

¶ 29 The people of Colorado spoke clearly when they adopted

Amendment 64. It is the duty of Colorado courts to give effect to

that enactment. In re Great Outdoors Colo. Tr. Fund, 913 P.2d 533,

538 (Colo. 1996). The Attorney General does not contend that

Amendment 64 is displaced by the Supremacy Clause of the Federal

Constitution. Under these circumstances, it is incumbent on us to

apply Amendment 64. Doing so creates a dichotomy between the

13
 reasonable expectations of privacy under state and federal law

because of the different laws enforced by state and federal law

enforcement officers.

¶ 30 The “general rule” is that state law does not preclude state and

local police from enforcing federal law. See, e.g., Miller v. United

States, 357 U.S. 301, 305 (1958); Johnson v. United States, 333

U.S. 10, 15 n.5 (1948); Gonzales v. City of Peoria, 722 F.2d 468,

474 (9th Cir. 1983), overruled on other grounds by Hodgers-Durgin v.

de la Vina, 199 F.3d 1037 (9th Cir. 1999). However, while state law

generally allows state and local law enforcement officers to enforce

federal law, it need not do so. “It has long been held that power

may be conferred upon a state officer, as such, to execute a duty

imposed under an act of Congress, and the officer may execute the

same, unless its execution is prohibited by the Constitution or

legislation of the state.” Dallemagne v. Moisan, 197 U.S. 169, 174

(1905).

¶ 31 Because Amendment 64 legalized possession of up to one

ounce of marijuana for personal use by persons twenty-one years of

age or older, it also “curtail[ed] police authority to enforce the

Federal prohibition of possession of [up to one ounce] of

14
 marijuana.” Commonwealth v. Craan, 13 N.E.3d 569, 578 (Mass.

2014). Part of Amendment 64’s stated purpose was to increase “the

efficient use of law enforcement resources” and “individual

freedom.” Colo. Const. art. XVIII, § 16(1)(a). Allowing state and

local officers to continue to enforce the federal prohibition would

directly contravene this purpose. We must give effect to the voters’

intent, Bruce v. City of Colorado Springs, 129 P.3d 988, 992 (Colo.

2006), and we will not adopt an interpretation that contravenes the

purpose of Amendment 64.

¶ 32 Thus, while a person twenty-one years of age or older in

possession of less than an ounce of marijuana does not have a

reasonable expectation of privacy under federal law with respect to

law enforcement activities of federal officers, see Illinois v. Caballes,

543 U.S. 405, 408-09 (2005), he or she does have a reasonable

expectation of privacy under state law with respect to law

enforcement activities of state officers.

15
 JUDGE J. JONES, specially concurring.

¶ 33 I concur in the result reached by the majority. But I do so

because it seems to me that the police officers lacked probable

cause to search McKnight’s truck.

¶ 34 Courts have recognized that an alert from a dog trained to

detect several substances, including marijuana, by itself may

amount to probable cause justifying a search of a vehicle. Florida v.

Harris, 568 U.S. 237, 246-47 (2013); People v. Esparza, 2012 CO

22, ¶ 12. But is that still true for purposes of article II, section 7 of

the Colorado Constitution, given that state law now generally allows

anyone who is at least twenty-one years old to possess small

amounts of marijuana for personal use? I consider that question,

which our supreme court did not address directly in People v.

Zuniga, 2016 CO 52, and People v. Cox, 2017 CO 8, and conclude

that such a dog’s alert alone no longer supplies probable cause

where the occupants of the vehicle are twenty-one years or older

and the officer conducting the search is not a federal officer.

¶ 35 In this case, a dog’s alert was the only circumstance of any

real weight giving rise to the police officers’ decision to search

McKnight’s truck. Therefore, I also conclude that the district court

16
 erroneously denied McKnight’s motion to suppress the evidence

found during that search. And because that error was not

harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, I agree with the majority that

we must reverse the district court’s judgment of conviction and

remand the case for a new trial.

I. Was Kilo’s Sniff a Search?

¶ 36 As the majority points out, the United States Supreme Court,

in Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. 405, 408-10 (2005), held that a

drug-detection dog’s sniff of a vehicle is not a search under the

Fourth Amendment, and the Colorado Supreme Court, in Esparza,

¶ 11, held that such a sniff is not a search under our state

constitution.

¶ 37 McKnight contends that a key premise underlying Caballes

and Esparza — that a dog sniff reveals only contraband — is not

true in this case. An alert from Kilo, he argues, is not so definitive:

it may reveal that a person possesses something legal (an ounce or

less of marijuana) or something illegal (illegal amounts of marijuana

or another controlled substance). But I need not decide whether

Kilo’s sniff constituted a search because, even if it did not, the

officers lacked probable cause to search McKnight’s truck.

17
 II. Did Kilo’s Alert, By Itself, Create Probable Cause?

¶ 38 The Federal and State Constitutions give people the right to be

free from unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const. amend.

IV; Colo. Const. art. II, § 7; Zuniga, ¶ 14. A warrantless search is

presumptively unreasonable, violating the Fourth Amendment

unless it falls under an exception to the warrant requirement.

People v. Vaughn, 2014 CO 71, ¶ 14. The automobile exception

allows police officers to search an automobile without a warrant if

they have probable cause to believe that it contains evidence of a

crime. Zuniga, ¶ 14.

¶ 39 “A police officer has probable cause to conduct a search when

‘the facts available to [the officer] would warrant a [person] of

reasonable caution in the belief’ that contraband or evidence of a

crime is present.” Harris, 568 U.S. at 243 (second alteration in

original) (quoting Texas v. Brown, 460 U.S. 730, 742 (1983)

(plurality opinion)). “[T]he information necessary to support a

finding of probable cause need not rise to the level of certainty.”

Mendez v. People, 986 P.2d 275, 280 (Colo. 1999). In the end,

“probable cause is a commonsense concept that requires judges to

consider the totality of the circumstances to determine ‘whether a

18
 fair probability exists that a search of a particular place will reveal

contraband or evidence of a crime.’” Zuniga, ¶ 16 (quoting Mendez,

986 P.2d at 280).

¶ 40 In Zuniga, the Colorado Supreme Court applied the probable

cause standard under circumstances similar to those in this case.

A trooper searched the defendant’s vehicle after a drug-detection

dog — trained to detect marijuana and other controlled substances

— alerted to the vehicle. Id. at ¶ 6. Even though possessing

marijuana does not violate Colorado law under some

circumstances, the court concluded that the dog’s alert “suggested

that illegal drugs were present in the vehicle” and “contribut[ed] to

the existence of probable cause.” Id. at ¶ 29. And the court

ultimately concluded that the trooper had probable cause to search

the vehicle based on the dog’s alert, the two passengers’

“remarkably disparate accounts” of why they were in Colorado, the

passengers’ “extreme nervousness,” and the heavy odor of raw

marijuana. Id. at ¶¶ 26-30.

¶ 41 More recently, in Cox, the court reiterated that a dog’s alert is

part of the “totality of the circumstances” that the district court

must consider, and similarly concluded that four facts combined to

19
 establish probable cause to search the defendant’s vehicle. Cox,

¶¶ 15, 17. These four facts were (1) an alert from a dog trained to

detect marijuana and other controlled substances; (2) the

defendant’s unusual nervousness; (3) inconsistencies in the

defendant’s description of his travels; and (4) the presence of two

cell phones in the defendant’s vehicle. Id. at ¶¶ 15-22.

¶ 42 Before Zuniga, both the United States Supreme Court and the

Colorado Supreme Court had recognized that an alert from a

reliable drug-detection dog by itself might establish probable cause.

See Harris, 568 U.S. at 246-47; Esparza, ¶ 12. In both Zuniga and

Cox, however, the supreme court expressly did not consider directly

whether, given the recent changes to marijuana’s status in

Colorado, an alert from a dog trained to detect marijuana and other

controlled substances by itself establishes probable cause to search

a vehicle. Cox, ¶ 22 n.5; Zuniga, ¶ 30 n.6. I conclude that, for

purposes of the Colorado Constitution, it does not.

¶ 43 Zuniga and Cox leave no doubt that Kilo’s alert supplied some

level of suspicion. “A possible innocent explanation or lawful

alternative may add a level of ambiguity to a fact’s probative value

in a probable cause determination, but it does not destroy the fact’s

20
 usefulness outright and require it to be disregarded.” Zuniga, ¶ 20.

Because an alert from Kilo might be the product of legal or illegal

conduct, his alert added to the probability that a search would

reveal evidence of a crime. See id. at ¶ 29; see also Cox, ¶ 17.

¶ 44 But although Kilo’s alert increased the likelihood that

McKnight’s truck contained evidence of a crime, a significant level

of ambiguity arose from the combination of Kilo’s training and

Colorado’s marijuana laws. At bottom, Kilo’s alert communicated

only that he detected either a legal substance or an illegal

substance. That information would not, by itself, warrant a person

of reasonable caution to believe that McKnight’s truck contained

contraband or evidence of a crime. See Harris, 568 U.S. at 242-44;

State v. Shabeeb, 194 Wash. App. 1032, ¶ 20, 2016 WL 3264421, at

*3 (Wash. Ct. App. 2016) (unpublished opinion) (“The State

concedes and we agree that since the decriminalization of

marijuana, a K–9 alert standing alone no longer establishes

probable cause when the K–9 was trained to alert on multiple

narcotics, one of which is marijuana.”).

¶ 45 I am not persuaded by the People’s reliance on Mendez, in

which the supreme court determined that officers had probable

21
 cause to search the defendant’s motel room after smelling burning

marijuana emanating from the room. 986 P.2d at 280. At the time,

medicinal use of marijuana provided an affirmative defense to a

possession charge under Colorado law. Id. at 281 n.4. Even so, the

court rejected the defendant’s argument that the smell of burning

marijuana did not create probable cause because the officers could

not determine whether the room’s occupant was using marijuana

illegally or medicinally. Id. In my view, legalizing marijuana (to

some degree) creates far more ambiguity as to whether possessing it

is probative of criminal conduct than does simply providing an

affirmative defense for its medicinal use.

¶ 46 For similar reasons, the cases from other states on which the

People rely carry little force. State v. Smalley, 225 P.3d 844, 847-48

(Or. Ct. App. 2010), was decided when possessing less than an

ounce of marijuana in Oregon, though not a criminal offense,

remained a “violation.” See also Bowling v. State, 134 A.3d 388,

394-98 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2016) (because possession of small

amounts of marijuana remains a civil violation, all marijuana is

contraband). And People v. Strasburg, 56 Cal. Rptr. 3d 306, 309

(Cal. Ct. App. 2007), was decided when California law permitted a

22
 “qualified patient” to possess up to eight ounces of marijuana.

Neither Smalley nor Strasburg addressed the legal landscape that

we face in Colorado, where people who are at least twenty-one years

old may legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana for personal

use.

¶ 47 I recognize, as the People point out, that possessing any

amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Coats v.

Dish Network, LLC, 2015 CO 44, ¶ 19. Nevertheless, I believe that,

at least for purposes of determining whether there is probable cause

under the Colorado Constitution, Zuniga makes clear that

Colorado’s marijuana laws have added a level of ambiguity to the

probative value of evidence suggesting that a person possesses

marijuana. See Zuniga, ¶¶ 20, 23. So I could not, consistent with

Zuniga, simply conclude that marijuana’s federal status clarifies the

ambiguity created by Kilo’s readiness to alert if he detects

marijuana.

¶ 48 For the foregoing reasons, I conclude that a drug-detection

dog’s alert does not alone give a Colorado state law enforcement

23
 officer probable cause to conduct a search of a vehicle where the

occupants are at least twenty-one years old.1

III. Did the Totality of the Circumstances
Establish Probable Cause for the Search?

¶ 49 Though Kilo’s alert did not alone give probable cause for the

search of McKnight’s truck, it was of course indicative of possible

criminal activity. Id. at ¶ 29. So the question remains whether the

totality of the circumstances, including Kilo’s alert, established

probable cause for the search. See id. at ¶ 16.

¶ 50 The People rely on only two additional facts to support a

finding of probable cause — that McKnight parked outside a house

in which drugs had been found and that Officer Gonzales knew that

McKnight’s passenger had used methamphetamine “at some point

in the past.” A close look shows that these facts are too vague and

attenuated to have suggested that McKnight’s truck contained

evidence of criminal activity.

1 The result would be different if the dog was not trained to detect
marijuana, or if the vehicle’s occupants were not at least twenty-one
years old. And I do not opine as to whether the change in
Colorado’s marijuana laws affects the Fourth Amendment analysis;
like the majority, my analysis is limited to the Colorado
Constitution.

24
¶ 51 That illegal drugs (the motions hearing transcript is silent as

to what kind or how much) had been found in the house more than

seven weeks earlier says little, if anything, about whether it

contained illegal drugs when McKnight parked nearby. Moreover,

Officer Gonzales did not say that anyone in McKnight’s truck

approached the house or that anyone from inside the house

approached McKnight’s truck. McKnight’s mere parking by a house

that had once contained illegal drugs simply did not suggest that

McKnight’s truck had illegal drugs in it. See People v. Revoal, 2012

CO 8, ¶ 16 (“standing alone, a history of past criminal activity in a

locality does not justify suspension of the constitutional rights of

everyone, or anyone, who may subsequently be in that locality”).

¶ 52 Similarly unsuspicious is that McKnight’s passenger had used

methamphetamine sometime in the past. For all we know, the

passenger may have been clean for years before Officer Gonzales

saw her in McKnight’s truck. In any case, the information that

Officer Gonzales conveyed about the passenger’s past drug use did

not suggest that the passenger or McKnight had illegal drugs when

Officer Gonzales stopped them. Cf. United States v. Kennedy, 427

F.3d 1136, 1142 (8th Cir. 2005) (“information of an unknown and

25
 undetermined vintage relaying the location of mobile, easily

concealed, readily consumable, and highly incriminating narcotics

could quickly go stale in the absence of information indicating an

ongoing and continuing narcotics operation”).

¶ 53 I am aware that I must consider these facts together with

Kilo’s alert in assessing whether there was probable cause. Cox,

¶ 14. But after doing so I am simply not convinced that there was

probable cause. In my view, the additional facts do nothing to clear

up the ambiguity arising from Kilo’s alert.

¶ 54 In sum, I conclude that the information available to the

officers who searched McKnight’s truck did not give them probable

cause to believe that it contained evidence of a crime. For that

reason, the district court erred when it denied McKnight’s motion to

suppress the evidence obtained from the search. See id. The

People do not contend, and I cannot conclude, that “the evidence

properly received against [McKnight was] so overwhelming that the

constitutional violation was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Bartley v. People, 817 P.2d 1029, 1034 (Colo. 1991). Therefore, I

agree with the majority that we must reverse. See id.

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