IMAGE SOURCE: (CultureClimax)

BY ANTHONY MARTINEZ

The US Supreme Court agreed Friday it will determine if using a drug-sniffing dog without a warrant is equivalent to an unconstitutional search of a person’s residence. Here's ABC with the details leading up to the case…

“In 2006 the Miami Dade Police Department received a Crime Stoppers tip that a man was growing marijuana in his house. A month later, a drug task force came to the house with its narcotics dog Franky. When a detective took the dog to the front porch, the dog alerted for drugs. Another detective knocked at the door and smelled marijuana. The detective left the site to obtain a warrant.”

These events led to the arrest of this man, Joelis Jardines, who was caught with 179 marijuana plants, with an estimated street value of more than $700,000.

Jardines argued that the chocolate lab’s trained sense of smell was an intrusive tool that violated his privacy. The Florida Supreme Court favored his claim with the ruling that Franky’s keen sense of smell works fashions an unreasonable search. Judge Napolitano explains why to Fox News…

“…the police could, for example, say, ‘The dog scratched when Arthur Idalis’s Porsche went by and that meant that he had a machine gun in trunk.’ Stated differently, the dog could be used as an instrument by the police to violate anybody’s constitutional rights. That’s why probable cause is a human observation and not an animal one.”

If the Supreme Court agrees that a dog sniff is deemed as an unconstitutional search--that leaves a huge toll for police officers that use these dogs within their warranted powers. According to the Miami Herald...

"If the Florida Supreme Court's decision stands, it could have a profound chilling effect on law enforcement efforts to combat illegal drugs," the states' filing says. "The Florida Supreme Court's decision jeopardizes the states' ability to use this crucial tool to discover illegal drugs prior to their distribution."

Supreme Court justices are likely to hear the case in April and issue a decision by late June. As for our furry friend Franky, he’ll remain on duty, as he’s led to the seizure of more than 2.5 tons of marijuana, 80 pounds of cocaine and $4.9 million in drug money.