James Tracey Miller v. Clark County Edward J. Bylsma, in His Capacity as a Police Officer for Clark County and as an Individual

We consider whether a sheriffs deputy violated a criminal suspect’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures by ordering a trained police dog to “bite and hold” the suspect until officers arrived on the scene less than a minute later. Because we conclude that the officer’s use of the dog here did not violate the suspect’s Fourth Amendments rights, we affirm the district court’s judgment.

I

A Clark County Sheriffs Deputy was on routine patrol on the night of January 21, 2001, when he became suspicious of the driver of a silver Pontiac Fiero. The deputy had conducted a computerized check and discovered that the Fiero bore a license plate registered to a different vehicle. Because the switched license plate constituted a traffic infraction and was evidence that the vehicle might have been stolen, the deputy turned on his emergency overhead fights and siren to signal the driver to pull over. The driver, later determined to be James Tracey Miller (the plaintiff in this action), refused..

At the entrance to a long driveway, the driver slowed the Fiero, and a passenger exited. The deputy pursued the passenger, while the driver drove the Fiero up the driveway…