Pubdate: Thu, 18 May 2006
Source: Peoria Journal Star (IL)
Copyright: 2006sPeoria Journal Star
Contact:  http://pjstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/338
Note: Does not publish letters from outside our circulation area.

COURT: USE OF DRUG DOG DIDN'T VIOLATE RIGHTS

SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois Supreme Court reversed an earlier ruling 
Thursday and upheld the conviction of a man arrested after a 
drug-sniffing dog alerted police to marijuana in his vehicle during a 
routine traffic stop.

By a 4-3 vote, justices decided that Roy Caballes's rights of privacy 
and protection from an unreasonable search were not violated during 
his 1998 arrest on Interstate 80 in LaSalle County.

In 2003, the state Supreme Court ruled that Caballes's rights had 
been violated and overturned his conviction. In January, the U.S. 
Supreme Court vacated that ruling and sent his case back to the state 
Supreme Court for further action.

Caballes, who lived in Las Vegas, was stopped by Illinois State 
Police for driving 6 miles per hour over the speed limit on I-80 in 
1998. When the trooper radioed a dispatcher, another officer with a 
drug dog overheard the transmission and drove to the site. While 
Caballes was being given a citation, the drug dog, Krott, circled the 
car and detected drugs. The officers discovered more than 280 pounds 
of marijuana in the trunk.

Caballes was convicted of drug trafficking in 1999 and sentenced to 
12 years in prison.
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