Punch and Jurists

U.S. v. Jaimes, No. 02-00175-03-ACK (D.Hawai'I) (297 F.Supp.2d 1554) (July 16, 2003) (Judge Alan Cooke Kay) by This case is noted as an example of the wide judicial gap that exists on the controversial issue of drug-contaminated currency. While numerous scientific studies have established that a significant percentage of all …

U.S. v. Buchanan, No. 98-1353 (6th Cir.) (213 F.3d 302) (May 22, 2000) (Judge Ronald Lee Gilman) by Here a divided panel held that dog-sniff evidence is inherently unreliable and therefore should normally be inadmissible as “insufficiently indicative of probable cause” due to the prevalence of drug tainted currency in …

U.S. v. Buchanan, No. 98-1353 (6th Cir.) (207 F.3d 344) (February 17, 2000) (Judge Ronald Lee Gilman) by This case is noted for its detailed discussion of the admissibility of testimony by police officers that trained canines reacted positively to the scent of drugs on currency. Several of the defendants …

U.S. v. $141,770.00 in U.S. Currency, No. 97-2393 (8th Cir.) (157 F.3d 600) (October 5, 1998) (Judge David R. Hansen) by Here theCourt held that testimony of a forensic chemist that 99 percent of United States currency was contaminated with some amount of drug residue was both unreliable and irrelevant.

U.S. v. Carr, No. 93-1376 (3rd Cir.) (25 F.3d 1194) (June 3, 1994) (Judge Robert E. Cowen) by In this case, Judge Becker, in a concurring and dissenting opinion, expressed concern that a canine alert to a particular bundle of currency has little probative value because a substantial amount of …