Were your rights violated if you were stopped by a K9 officer and a license check was clear but you refused to let him search your car due to no probable cause but he searched anyway and found nothing?

Answer 1

THIS IS NOT A PROFESSIONAL OPINION. Could be. If the dog indicated something, that might constitute probable cause, but I'm not sure that justifies a search without your permission or a warrant. If the dog didn't indicate anything, I'd say you were subjected to an unwarranted search. You should get a legal opinion if you're of a mind to pursue this. An officer who has a canine on patrol with him can legally allow the dog to do "sniff search" if it does not extend the traffic stop an abnormal period of time. The Surpreme Court has ruled that a person is not extended the same rights to privacy when they are in a vehicle that they would be if they were in their home. The Court interprets this to mean that an officer when making a traffic stop can, have the occupants exit the vehicle and do a pat down of the occupants for his/her own safety. They further ruled that under most circumstances probable cause is not needed to search the passenger section of the vehicle. Many attorneys and civil rights activist believe this to be a violation of a person's civil rights. However, given the ruling by the Surpreme Court and by several lower courts in various jurisdictions it would be very difficult (read that as impossible) in such circumstances to win a case based on abuse of civil rights.