Crosby v. StateCrosby v. State
The final judgment of conviction and sentence under review is affirmed based on the following briefly stated legal analysis.
First, the defendant Larry Crosby was temporarily detained — but not arrested, as urged — when police officers physically prevented him from boarding a train at the Amtrak station, detained him for five to six minutes, and conducted a “dog sniff,” by a trained narcotics dog, of a shoulder bag he was carrying. The fact that the defendant Crosby missed his train as a result of the detention cannot convert same into an arrest. Login v. State,
Second, the police had a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity sufficient to justify the temporary detention, to wit: the defendant was travelling under an assumed name, was extremely nervous and physically shaking prior to being approached by police, and arrived by car at the last minute at the station without saying anything to the person who brought him. State v. Bullock, supra, at 518; State v. Taylor,
Third, the police had probable cause to believe that narcotics were in the defendant’s shoulder bag after the narcotics dog affirmatively alerted on the bag, and, consequently, the search warrant subsequently issued by the magistrate was based on probable cause as it was issued on an affidavit which set forth the above-stated facts. The cocaine seized from the defendant’s shoulder bag by police pursuant to the search warrant was therefore admissible in evidence. State v. Goodley,
Affirmed.