Drug Dogs are
reminders of similar Police-State tactics and obsessive Gestapo
behavior under the Nat'l Socialist German Workers Party. http://rexcurry.net/book1a1contents-pledge.html Learn more about the government's obsession with your life in the USA http://rexcurry.net/pledge2.html |
See the police state and Social Security
Tattoos exposed as a growing part of your life. http://rexcurry.net/tattoos.html The USA's growing Police State http://rexcurry.net/police-state.html |
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Sniffing Out The Truth About Drug Dogs: An Interview With Rex Curry |
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By Stephen Young
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How good are drug dogs at their jobs? Attorney
Rex Curry has been looking at that question for years. |
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Back in 2003, Curry argued a case in Florida challenging the reliability of a police drug dog. The dog had signalled drugs on Curry's client, but Curry showed that the dog didn't have adequate training, and if it did, police should have kept records proving that the dog was reliable for a decent wrap-up of the case, check this news story - http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1194/a04.html |
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Curry's argument prevailed, and the charges were
thrown out. Police appealed, so far unsuccessfully. But the
Attorney General of Florida is trying to get the U.S. Supreme Court
to take the case. Curry has archived the court documents at his website
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DrugSense Weekly interviewed Curry recently about
the where the case is going, and drug-sniffing dogs in general. |
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DSW: What is the status of the Florida v. Matheson case you detail at your site? Is the case headed for the U.S. Supreme Court? |
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Rex Curry: You are in luck because you are one
of the first to learn that the court has asked for a response (this is
also visible from the court's docket entry) and I have been told the
court asked for transcripts. This is peaking interest in the case.
Of course, it is already AT the Supreme Court, the only question is whether
the Court will "bite" at the dog case and decide to hear oral arguments
and issue a written opinion. |
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DSW: How did you get involved with that case? |
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DSW: It seems from information at your website that drug-sniffing dog training, quality and testing varies widely. Is that correct? |
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DSW: How wide is the variation - for example,
what is the success rate of the best dogs vs. the success rate
of the worst dogs? How wide is the variation in the way success is defined
in dog training programs? |
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DSW: I've read that dogs are most competent when
they've trained on, at most, five different drug scents, and that attempts
to train them on a higher number of scents just confuses dogs.
Does that sound accurate? If so, does this play into court cases? For example,
can you as an attorney find out what specific drugs the dogs were trained
to detect? |
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DSW: I'm told (ahem) that the scent of marijuana
can vary widely between different strains. Does this present a problem
for the dog, or is there some basic component of cannabis that they
will always recognize if they are competently trained? |
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DSW: Given the problems with drug dogs explored
at your website, why do you think they are so popular with police departments
and municipal government? |
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Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly. A new edition of his book Maximizing Harm is scheduled for release next year. |
Help liberate
dogs from modern prohibition and fund the behaviorist Dr. Rex Curry and his research about "drug dogs" and their indoctrination / brainwashing. |
Nazi Police State http://rexcurry.net/dog-german-shepherd.jpg
LIBERATE DRUG DOGS Learn more about the USA's growing police state http://rexcurry.net/police-state.html DRUG DOGS ARE COVERS FOR LIES The government tried to overturn a victory against sniffer dogs. http://rexcurry.net/drugdogsmain.html The U.S. Supreme Court denied the government's petition on Oct. 31, 2005 in case # 04-1668. Search for Matheson on this web page http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/orders/2005/103105pzor.html The government also unsuccessfully appealed to Florida's Supreme Court to overturn the victory. Florida's Attorney General fought against Florida v. Matheson and its requirement that narcotic K-9s must be continually trained and tested under higher standards or they cannot be used to search people and cars. The Florida court decisions are at http://rexcurry.net/drugdogsflorida.pdf (3-3-05) and the very libertarian decision (the appellate case below) at http://rexcurry.net/drugdogs2dca.pdf RexCurry.net argued the original motion to suppress for Matheson. Narco dogs are used as ruses against humans, to violate constitutional rights against searches and seizures. Here's how - * Some cops ask to search cars for no reason at all during routine traffic stops. The practice has inspired the "SNTS" movement and its slogan "Say No To Searches!" http://rexcurry.net/sntsmain.html Cops ask to search because they know that most victims do not know that drivers can "just say no" (most drivers are know-nothings about constitutional rights). Drivers who do know are often too meek to "just say no." It is unknown how often cops ask for consent to search and how often consent is given under duress or ignorance. Drivers who do not complain roadside will not complain, learn or litigate later. * If drivers say "no," then some cops tell drivers that an ordeal is inevitable because the cop radioed for a canine and it is coming to the scene. That warning is often a lie to induce consent. There is no police dog on the way. Here is a video with the title "Do not talk to the police" by George Bruch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSvxiaO-TG8 * If a dog is or is not "on the way," some cops add additional lies to make drivers think that there will be a long wait and that the driver must stay until a dog arrives. Cops rely on driver ignorance of the fact that evidence will be suppressed if drivers are detained longer than it takes to complete the traffic stop (e.g. write the ticket). Drivers are induced to consent to search to avoid a long wait based on lies. Cops will say things like "You should consent to search, because the dog is going to scratch your car up" which is an actual threat of property damage made to induce consent, and it is also an indication of a badly trained drug dog (if it is true). * If a dog is en route, some cops let drivers think that they are obliged to stay even when the cop has no reason to detain drivers any longer. Cop's rationalize that drivers inexplicably loiter roadside with cops, or that drivers enjoy waiting for dog sniffs. Cops take advantage of drivers who are too stupid (or too meek) to ask if they are free to go, so that drivers "consent" to unwarranted detention by not leaving. * Cops lie about how long it takes to write tickets or to obtain a radio response on tag inquiry. If a dog is actually en route, then some cops write tickets very slowly, until the dog arrives. * When cops need consent, and drivers say "no," then there is no basis to search. Without consent, cops need "probable cause" to search. Cops can create cause by claiming that canines alerted, even if there are no alerts (or if the canine was cued). A search is forced against the driver's will. In January 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Illinois vs. Caballes that a dog sniff during a traffic stop was not a "search." Caballes and similar cases turn canines into props for lies. When dogs are used as props for lies, it doesn't matter whether dogs are well-trained. * Even after the dog arrives, cops still try to obtain consent because they think that they can more easily avoid suppression of evidence motions that expose the cop's lies, expose the dog's worthlessness, destroy the dog's future credibility, forcing the dog to be retired, and a new worthless dog to replace it (until that dog is exposed). With the dog at the scene, cops will repeat statements such as "You should consent to search, because the dog is going to scratch up your car" which is an actual threat of property damage made to induce consent, and it is also an indication of a badly trained drug dog (if it is true) and a bad handler. * The fraud is about more than cops stealing drugs. It is also about cops stealing cars, money and other valuables. Under civil forfeiture, if the cops claim the dog alerts, and then claim that drugs were found, then what follows is the seizure of the car, money and other valuables, even real estate. Regardless of the criminal charges, the theft of the victim's property becomes another separate nightmare. * If a dog alerts and nothing is found, then cops will never record that as an error. If cross-examined later, they will testify that the dog detected lingering odors of contraband that were recently present. Cops will testify that dogs never make mistakes, never have and never will, and that apparent errors are skillful detections of lingering (residual) odors of contraband. No one can question a dog about whether the cop is lying or mistaken, and it is usually a waste of time to ask a cop the same types of questions. * Many errors by drug dogs cause lawyers to wonder if police carry drugs to plant scents so that drug dogs will alert. Some news items support such speculation in cases where drugs have been planted by police. http://rexcurry.net/drugdogsframe.html Drug laws are wrong in the first place, and in the second place drug laws cause more wrongdoing by government during enforcement. Government's attitude toward your liberty is like a dog at a fire hydrant. Police-state tactics were witnessed worldwide via videotape from Goose Creek High School in South Carolina, where children were forced to the floor in handcuffs and terrorized by dogs and cops with guns drawn. http://rexcurry.net/drugs-goose-creek.ram Video http://highwire.stanford.edu/~straffin/JS1111.rm Nothing was found. Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6r9neE89Fg Don't Howl Hitler: Stop the USA's growing Police State http://rexcurry.net/police-state.html Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjMfckchl_s Bad dogs? http://rexcurry.net/drug-dogs-goose-creek-police-raid.html In other schools, classes have been interrupted and the children were marched out and lined up to be harassed by a dog. The Caballes case foreshadows more police-state possibilities: Uniformed law enforcement marching through neighborhoods with German shepherds on leashes sniffing anything and everything -every car parked on or near the street, the air emanating from homes, neighbors walking outside. Imagine the same thing at any place of business or employment, and police marching German shepherds through parking lots, car to car, for no reason other than fishing expeditions. Imagine the same nightmare in any shopping area or a downtown street area, a festival, a bar's parking lot, with uniformed agents with German shepherds sniffing pedestrians and their bags and cars and anything, and stopping anyone on an alleged alert and going through their purses, persons, cars, etc, right there on the street. Drug dogs are like humans in that they must be taught to approach peaceful people and search them, so that humans can be arrested, handcuffed and imprisoned for decades under modern prohibition. That is not an easy trick to teach a dog. It is easier to teach humans. It is a wonder why the kids weren't instructed to robotically chant the Pledge of Allegiance during the ordeals (and with the Pledge's original straight-arm salute). A breed that is used often as drug dogs is the German Sheppard. The police state resembles the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis). As an attorney, I am often consulted by people victimized in searches by dogs trained to smell drugs. A drug dog's skills are often overestimated because people anthropomorphize dogs. A humanlike quality that dogs have is that they are natural libertarians with no interest in the war on drugs. I am the attorney who argued the original motion to suppress in Florida v. Gary Alan Matheson, that curbed drug dogs in Florida. http://rexcurry.net/drugdogs2dca.pdf Matheson's case included oral argument before Florida's Supreme Court and the public has a rare opportunity to view a video of the justices' questions and the arguments linked at http://www.wfsu.org/gavel2gavel/archives/05-01.html#JAN10 The Matheson case points out the lack of credibility of drug dogs and their employers. No one can question a dog about whether the cop is lying or mistaken, and it is usually a waste of time to ask a cop the same types of questions. Drug dogs are like humans in that they must be taught to approach peaceful people and search them, so that humans can be arrested, handcuffed and imprisoned for decades under modern prohibition. That is not an easy trick to teach a dog. It's easier to teach humans. All drug dogs are "playing a game," as are some humans who support modern prohibition. The dogs are taught using dog toys. The toys are hidden with drugs to trick the dog into a game of searching for its toy by associating it with drug odors. Many errors can happen. There is always the danger that the dog will alert on anything that resembles or smells like its toy (towels, tennis balls, car carpet, etc.). Cabelles holds that cops can take dogs fishing. Caballes involved a "legitimate" traffic stop for speeding (that turned into 12 years for pot). Dog-fishing in parking lots or on sidewalks should still be opposed. Random drug checkpoints have already been found unconstitutional by the Court. Here are the totalitarian police-state possibilities that the U.S. Supreme Court opened up: Imagine uniformed law enforcement marching through your neighborhood with German Shepards on leashes sniffing anything and everything -your car and every car parked on the street, the air emanating from your home, you walking outside. Imagine the same thing at your place of business or where you work, police marching German Shepards through the parking lot, car to car, for no reason other than a fishing expedition and entering any vehicle where there is an alleged alert. Imagine the same thing in any shopping area or a downtown street area, a festival, a bar's parking lot, uniformed agents with German Shepards sniffing pedestrians and their bags and cars and anything and stopping anyone on an alleged alert and going through their purses, persons, cars, etc, right there. Dogs are used for human lies. Police cannot search a car without probable cause or consent, and an easy way to claim probable cause is to claim that a dog alerted. It doesn't matter whether a dog is accurate. The dog is just present as cover-up to testalie in court. Dogs are perfect pets for perjury. If contraband is found then the arrest will probably stand. If nothing is found, the driver leaves shaken, but I know of no case where the driver even complained or sued. Drug dogs turn simple traffic stops into fishing expeditions for drug busts. Driver's are asked for consent to search without any suspicion at all. When drivers refuse consent, an officer threatens to bring a dog in order to intimidate drivers into consenting to avoid a wait. Persistent refusal prompts cops to radio for a dog, and then claim that the dog alerted. Any case that lacks a videotape of a dog's actions on the scene should result in rejection of testimony that the dog alerted, or did so without cueing. Drugs dogs often bark up the wrong tree. Motions to suppress should argue that the dog's training and history show false positives and problems that make the dog unreliable for searches. In Cabelles, Justices Souter and Ginsburg dissented, pointing to studies showing that drug dogs frequently return false positives (12.5-60% of the time, according to one study). Moreso than in humans, the libertarianism of drug-dogs always resurfaces, and must be suppressed constantly by law enforcement retraining. Without constant retraining the dogs lose interest and stop performing accurately. Record-keeping is a must to know whether dogs are guessing, or seeing cues. Only with record keeping and independent testing can any judge draw any conclusion from the dogs game playing out on the street. Dogs approximate humans in that they go along with the system to avoid disapproval from peers (teachers, school students, friends, etc., in the case of humans). Drug dogs do not want disapproval from their police handlers. Dogs play the game, and will try to guess and read cues, because they are searching for approval, not for drugs. Dogs match humans in that if you influence them enough they will do anything -- like passing the 18th amendment. In the dogged pursuit of modern prohibition, some dogs are slow learners as are some humans. The government's war on drugs is a dog chasing its own tail. Let's liberate drug dogs. Return them to protecting people from violence and theft, which is also the only proper purpose of law enforcement. Dogs should be man's best friend, not man's persecutor. Drug dogs are natural libertarians.
The oldest living medical marijuana patient (OLMMP) said: "Rex,
thanks for your work against drug dogs. I was
in the airport recently and a dog sniffed my bag and walked
away. I called to the handler and asked if the dog was trained
for bombs or drugs, and the handler said 'for drugs.' So
I told him to bring the dog back because I had marijuana in my bag."
RexCurry.net phoned OLMMP, but only reached his voicemail.
OLMMP called back and said "I am sorry that I missed your call.
I had stepped outside to take my medicine." |
PLAYBOY MAGAZINE: Professor Curry made Playboy without taking his clothes off http://rexcurry.net/drugdog.jpg The Drug Sense Weekly interview http://rexcurry.net/drug-sense-weekly.html The History News Network http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/15858.html MORE ON DRUG DOGS - http://rexcurry.net/drugdogcases.html and see many cases here http://www.k9fleck.org/narlegal.htm State v. Wright case from Arizona 10/31/08, (the Wright case cites the Matheson case) http://rexcurry.net/drug-dogs-jacquelyn-wright-arizona.pdf United States v Ervin Christy in Nebraska 03/19/2008 http://rexcurry.net/drug-dogs-ervin-christy-nebraska-us.pdf Are drug dogs used to plant drugs and to frame people? Some evidence suggests that is the case. http://rexcurry.net/drugdogsframe.html The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sniffer dogs at traffic stops do not violate the 4th amendment, per se. There is still room for attacking the credibility of the dogs and their handlers. Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal (DCA) and the 5th DCA have certified conflict to the Florida Supreme Court regarding the Matheson issue. Drug dog alert cannot be used to get warrant for a home? More leashes for drug dogs. The police may not use a drug dog alert outside the defendant's home to obtain probable cause for a warrant to search the home, the Fourth DCA ruled February 15, 2006. State v. Rabb, ___ So. 2d ___, 31 F.L.W. D510 (4th DCA 2/15/2006). The case can be viewed at http://www.4dca.org/Feb2006/02-15-06/4D02-5139.op.pdf or under the "opinions" section at http://www.4dca.org and then looking under the 2/15/06 opinion date, or try an internet search for the case name. The earlier Raab case was at State v. Rabb 4th DCA 09/14/05 http://www.4dca.org/Sept%202005/09-14-05/4D02-5139.pdf As of 4-25-06 the Rabb case SC06-417 was still active at Florida's Supreme Court at http://jweb.flcourts.org/pls/docket/ds_docket_search%20 State v. Laveroni 4th DCA 30 Fla. L. Weekly D2173 new dog case http://www.4dca.org/Sept%202005/09-14-05/4D04-2443.pdf State v. Coleman 5th DCA 09/30/05 aligns w 4th DCA http://www.5dca.org/Opinions/Opin2005/092605/5D04-2739.op.pdf Missing dog records drop charges? http://rexcurry.net/drugdogs3.html U.S. District Court suppresses evidence in a dog gone case for RexCurry.net http://rexcurry.net/law-drugs-suppress.pdf MORE
LINKS FOR LIBERATING DOGS ARE BELOW
If you don't consent to search, we'll kill this dog http://rexcurry.net/dog4.jpg The Sheriff said "I'll kill myself if you don't waive your rights" http://rexcurry.net/police-state-sheriff-blazing-saddles.jpg http://rexcurry.net/police-state-sheriff-blazing-saddles.jpg The Sheriff said "I'll kill myself if you don't waive your rights" Free the Drug Dogs!by Keith HaldermanAn old friend of mine attorney Rex Curry, who was one of the first libertarians I ever met and who helped transform much of my thinking, developed a case that may be headed to the Supreme Court. Florida v. Matheson, which he won, involves a challenge to the veracity of drug dogs searches. The state of Florida is appealing and the issue is on the high court's docket. The September 16th issue of the online journal DrugSense Weekly
has an interview with Mr. Curry in which they ask him,
"Given the problems with drug dogs explored at your website
(see link above), why do you think they are so
popular with police departments and municipal government?” *************** You made Playboy without taking your clothes off. http://rexcurry.net/drugdog.jpg
The Matheson case is one of your best. I am still getting
calls about your case. This page (and below) is a collection of resources for lawyers dealing
with drug dogs. Please send in any motions, appeal
decisions, tips, etc., to A fan of RexCurry.net writes (dated March 24, 2005): In Florida, the Pinellas County Sheriff's department is currently expanding its sniffer dogs from 30 to 90. A new building is being built just south of Pinellas Park to house them. All german shepherds but not all drug dogs, and note also that our population is expanding rapidly here, with lots of tourists and people moving in and out. Another fan writes: I actually discovered a vacant lot where some dog-cops were meeting and I saw them signal training the dogs to "GO OFF" on cue with very slight hand motions. Then I saw them walk dogs around a COP car they used (this shows it will work in any situation) and when the cop made this little twitch with one finger extended, the dog would bight at the door handle and tires and stand on its back legs and bark at the windows etc... MOTION TO SUPPRESS DRUG DOG SEARCH - this is the initial motion that started the path to victory. MOTION TO SUPPRESS 2 THE SEQUEL - more details & humor. How government fornicates the canine. THE EXPERTS USED RE: DRUG DOGS - attorneys nationwide contact me to use them in other cases. APPEAL CURBS DRUG SNIFFING DOGS - this is the appellate decision curbing drug dogs. It is presently awaiting decision after having oral argument before the Florida Supreme Court on January 12, 2005. http://rexcurry.net/drugdogs2dca.pdf MORE ON DRUG DOGS - this is how drug dogs can be used in ruses to violate the constitutional rights of humans. DRUG DOGS ARE LIBERTARIANS - they require constant indoctrination to change them. NEWSPAPER EDITORIAL - Click here for a favorable newspaper editorial. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE - Click here for a news story on the opinion. EDITORIAL CARTOON - Click here for an editorial cartoon. INNOCENT MAN FREED - after 22 years in prison, by discrediting drug dog. http://rexcurry.net/drugdogs2.html Stop assembly line courthouse searches http://rexcurry.net/searches-courthouse-motion-limine.wpd Stop the demand for identification http://rexcurry.net/searches-courthouse-motion-identification-demand.wpd http://rexcurry.net/searches-courthouse-motion-limine-reconsider.wpd http://rexcurry.net/searches-courthouse-motion-identification-demand2.wpd http://rexcurry.net/searches-courthouse-motion-limine2.wpd Stop drug dog searches http://rexcurry.net/drugdogsmain.html say no to searches http://rexcurry.net/snts.html http://rexcurry.net/sntskids.html http://rexcurry.net/sntsguy.html http://rexcurry.net/sntsmain.html http://rexcurry.net/law%20graphics/refusal.html Pigs use dogs to fish for humans. The USA needs Rex the Wonder Dog !!! --- NOT ADOLF THE NAZI DOG. Rx means Rex. The prescription is liberty, and freedom is the pill. Liberty lets everyone live like a king. Repeal modern prohibition. GET HIGH ON FREEDOM. Drug dogs are often used as ruses to violate the constitutional rights of humans. In the war on drugs, the government lies like a dog. A dog is man's best friend. He should not be man's worst enemy. TERROR INDUCED VIA BARKING DOGS http://rexcurry.net/dog-torture-terrorism-abu-ghraib1d.jpg Bad dogs kill children and adults BARKING DOGS USED FOR TERRORISM http://rexcurry.net/dog-torture-terrorism-abu-ghraib1d.jpg Barking Dogs terrorize humans Dogs are used for torture and to produce fear. http://rexcurry.net/dog-torture-terrorism-abu-ghraib1b.jpg http://rexcurry.net/dog-torture-terrorism-abu-ghraib.jpg http://rexcurry.net/dog-torture-terrorism-abu-ghraib1d.jpg |
Pledge of Allegiance in photos
http://rexcurry.net/reciting-the-pledge-of-allegiance1918.jpg
and more photos and articles at http://rexcurry.net/book1a1contents-pledge.html For fascinating information about symbolism see http://rexcurry.net/book1a1contents-swastika.html Fan Mail http://rexcurry.net/pledge_heart.html |