No Fourth Amendment Search in Drug Dog Sniff of Common Hallway Outside Apartment

US v. Johnson: Police suspected Johnson was selling drugs from his apartment in Maryland, but didn’t feel confident they had enough evidence to secure a warrant. With the permission of Johnson’s landlord, at 3am in the morning, an officer took a drug-sniffing dog to Johnson’s front door – on the second floor of the building, near the elevator. The dog alerted on the seam of Johnson’s door. Officers obtained a warrant and the resulting search uncovered drugs and related evidence. Johnson unsuccessfully moved to suppress, arguing that the dog sniff had violated the Fourth Amendment. He was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 150 months in prison.

On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the denial of Johnson’s motion to suppress, concluding that the dog sniff was not a “search” for Fourth Amendment purposes. First, the court held that Johnson lacked an expectation of privacy because the dog’s sniff could detect only contraband, in which nobody has a legitimate expectation of privacy. Second, the court held that brining the dog to Johnson’s front door was not a trespass, as the dog remained in a common area accessed by numerous others.