From: [e--k] at [panix.com] (Mark Eckenwiler) Organization: Dave Rhodes Scholars In <[1994 Aug 18 213233 1] at [eagle.wesleyan.edu]>, [a--ab--r] at [eagle.wesleyan.edu] sez: >Well, I've been trying to follow the maze of self-propagating UL's on this >group for the past few weeks...Anyway, at lunch today, some colleagues who >ought to know better provided the following "information": > 1) All US bills of whatever denomination are impregnated with cocaine >dust. Last time I heard this one, it was only twenties... Several US courts have noted that figure is between 80% and 97%. It's not limited to big bills since, among other things, sorting machines and other common receptacles facilitate the transfer of cocaine traces to small bills as well. Following is an excerpt from _Jones v. DEA_, 819 F. Supp. 698, 719-21 (M.D. Tenn. 1993). (Also informative is _US v. $80,760.00 in US Currency_, 781 F. Supp. 462 (N.D. Tex. 1991).) Note followups. --- Even assuming that the frisk and seizure of Mr. Jones's person were within the bounds of the Fourth Amendment, as a growing chorus of courts are finding, the evidence of the narcotic-trained dog's "alert" to the currency is of extremely little probative weight. See United States v. $53,082 in U.S. Currency, 985 F.2d at 250, n. 5 (6th Cir.1993) (stating that "[e]ven if it could be considered, the evidentiary value of a narcotics detection dog's alert has recently been called into question"); United States v. $53,082.00 in U.S. Currency, 773 F.Supp. 26, 34 (E.D.Mich.1991); United States v. $639,558.00 in U.S. Currency, 955 F.2d 712 (D.C.Cir.1992); United States v. $80,760.00 in U.S. Currency, 781 F.Supp. 462, 475-77 (N.D.Tex.1991) (and cases cited therein); but see, for the contrary holding, United States v. $67,220.00 in U.S. Currency, 957 F.2d 280, 285 (6th Cir.1992); People v. Sommer, 12 Cal.App.4th 1642, 16 Cal.Rptr.2d 165 (Cal.Ct.App.1993). As the Drug Enforcement Administration's own chemists reported in the memorandum of the results of their experiments (admitted at trial in this case), currency in general circulation in this country is contaminated with traces of narcotics. Specifically, the chemist found that one-third of the bills in a randomly selected sample were contaminated with between 2.4 and 12.3 nanograms of cocaine per bill. See Finding 14; Plaintiff's Exhibit 18, at 3. The belts used at Federal Reserve Banks to sort currency were contaminated with approximately 200 nanograms of cocaine per belt. Id. This evidence merely echoes that which has come to the attention of other courts. See $53,082 in U.S. Currency, cited above, 985 F.2d at 250, n. 5 (quoting Dirty Money, United States Banker, October 1989, at 10, which discussed a study by Lee Hearn, Chief Toxicologist for Florida Dade County Medical Examiner's Office, in which he found that 97% of the bills from around the country tested positively for cocaine, and noting that clean bills are contaminated in banks when they come in contact with contaminated ones); $639,558.00 in U.S. Currency, 955 F.2d at 714, n. 4 (citing Crime and Chemical Analysis, 243 Science 1554, 1555 (1989), which described the same study and stated that the contaminated bills carried an average of 7.3 micrograms of cocaine per bill); United States v. $83,375 in United States Currency, 727 F.Supp. 155, 160 (D.N.J.1989) (describing testimony of Jay Poupko, Ph.D., who found in a study that 96% of the bills in circulation were contaminated); $80,760.00 in U.S. Currency, 781 F.Supp. at 475-76, n. 32 (quoting a newspaper article describing the results of a study at National Medical Services in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania--80% of the bills tested were contaminated). Although the studies disagree with respect to the percentage of bills contaminated (between one- third and 97%), and with respect to the amount of cocaine residue per bill (between 2.4-12.3 nanograms and 7.3 micrograms), [n22] it cannot be doubted that contaminated currency is widespread. [n22] A nanogram is one-billionth, or 1 x 10 - 9, of a gram. A microgram is one-millionth, or 1 x 10 - 6, of a gram. The range of results is, therefore, quite wide: 7.3 micrograms is roughly 3,000 times greater than 2.4 nanograms. It cannot be doubted that a narcotics detection dog's sense of smell is quite keen. Other courts have observed that a dog can detect narcotics even in the microscopic quantities in which it is present on contaminated currency. See $639,558.00 in U.S. Currency, 955 F.2d at 714, n. 2 (stating that "Dr. Woodford testified that, as a result, bills may contain as little as a millionth of a gram of cocaine, but that is many times more cocaine than is needed for a dog to alert. Officer Beard related that 10 percent of the alerts he had witnessed were to cash alone."); Sommer, cited above (quoting a dog's trainer as stating that a dog can detect scents in parts per trillion). [n23] [n23] Officer Perry's testimony, that Dakota requires one-half of a gram of cocaine to alert, is entirely unpersuasive. He also admitted that Dakota had alerted before to microscopic quantities of the drugs to which he is trained to alert. See Record at 429-31. The presence of trace narcotics on currency does not yield any relevant information whatsoever about the currency's history. A bill may be contaminated by proximity to a large quantity of cocaine, by its passage through the contaminated sorting machines at the Federal Reserve Banks, or by contact with other contaminated bills in the wallet or at the bank. Compare $80,760.00 in U.S. Currency, 781 F.Supp. at 476; $53,082.00 in U.S. Currency, 773 F.Supp. at 34 (stating that although the positive dog alert "links the currency to controlled substances, it does not link the claimant's use of the defendant currency to controlled substances). Given these facts, the continued reliance of courts and law enforcement officers on dog sniffs to separate "legitimate" currency from "drug-connected" currency is logically indefensible. It is one thing to base probable cause to search a closed container with unknown contents on evidence of a dog's alert; after all, the dog's alert signals the presence of narcotics, though they may be present only as residue on currency which does not merit prosecution. But see $639,558.00 in U.S. Currency, 955 F.2d at 714, n. 2 (stating that if the stories on contamination proved accurate, "a court considering whether a dog sniff provides probable cause may have to take into account the possibility that the dog signalled only the presence of money, not drugs." (citation omitted)). It is quite another thing, however, to infer guilt from an alert on an object whose macroscopic characteristics are known to the officer at the time it is presented to the dog. The Court concludes, therefore, that even were it admissible, the probative value of the dog's alert is microscopic. --- end included text --- - Mark "cite for sore eyes" Eckenwiler --- * Origin: COBRUS - Usenet-to-Fidonet Distribution System (1:2613/335.0)