Mike Campbell and his best friend, John Wright, were driving north on 1-95 returning from spring break in Florida, when they were stopped by Volusia County Sheriff officers. The officers requested permission to search the car. When Campbell refused consent, the officers brought in a drug dog which alerted to the trunk of the car. The officers then claimed that the dog's actions gave them probable cause to search the trunk and gave Campbell the choice of either opening the trunk or waiting until the officers obtained a search warrant. After Campbell opened the trunk, the officers found two kilograms of cocaine in a brown paper bag. Campbell and Wright were arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of state law.The officers claimed they stopped the

Question

Campbell car because Campbell did not use his turn signal when changing lanes and because the following facts fit a drug courier profile used by the Volusia County Sheriff officers.1.         The car was a large late model;2.         The car had out-of-state tags;3.         The car was being driven cautiously at the speed limit;4.         The car was being driven on a known drug corridor, 1-95;5.         There were two passengers in the car;6.         The passengers were in their twenties;7.         The car was being driven in the early evening; and8.         The passengers were dressed casually.Although not listed by the agents, Campbell and Wright believe the real reason they were stopped is because they are African-Americans. If Mike can have the cocaine suppressed, the charge against him would have to be dropped for lack of evidence.If you were asked to determine what grounds Mike Campbell has for filing the motion to suppress, outline the steps you would take in researching this question. Assume that only the law of your state and not federal law is applicable to this question. Your focus should be on the names of the resource materials you would utilize, and what terms or issues you would commence your research with. You do not need to locate those materials, only outline how you would go about doing so if you were in the library.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Suggested Answer:
terms: search and seizure, drugs, consent, highway, interstate, civil rights, race discrimination, drug courier profile, traffic violation
issues: whether stop based on drug courier profile was constitutional; whether stop based on alleged traffic violation was constitutional; whether there was consent to the search; whether cocaine can be suppressed.
Actions to be taken prior to beginning legal research:
1.         gather facts
2.         review documents
Names of resources used in legal research:
1.         state constitution
2.         state statutes
3.         state session laws
4.         annotated version of state statutes
5.         state legal encyclopedia
6.         state digest
7.         state administrative regulations
8.         reporter containing state cases
9.         ALR
10.       state court rules
11.       law review articles
12.       legal periodicals
13.       treatises
14.       Shepard's Citators or KeyCite