United States v. John Christopher Beale

674 F.2d 1327 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John Christopher BEALE, Defendant-Appellant. No. 80-1652. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted April 9, 1981. Decided April 22, 1982. Dan Alfaro, Corpus Christi, Tex., Paul H. Duvall, San Diego, Cal., for defendant-appellant. Bruce P. Castetter, Asst. U. S. Atty., San Diego, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Before ELY, FLETCHER, and REINHARDT, Circuit Judges. ELY, Circuit Judge: 1 This case, an appeal from a conviction of possession with intent to distribute and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, raises important constitutional issues relating to the application of Fourth Amendment rubric to the Government's use of trained canines to detect illegal substances not subject to perception by the unaided human senses. Because we hold that the use of trained canines in this case was improper absent a showing of "founded suspicion," we vacate and remand. FACTS 2 As appellant Beale was convicted in a bench trial on stipulated facts, we consider the facts, as stipulated and as…