US v Williams (2023)

This is a case summary from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The court affirmed the convictions of two individuals, Van Williams and Jamar Bloom, who were arrested for possession of cocaine and methamphetamine after a traffic stop. Williams and Bloom had challenged the legality of the stop and their subsequent arrests, arguing that the stop was unduly extended, that Bloom was illegally arrested, and that the search of their vehicle was illegal. The court, however, upheld the lower court's rulings, finding that the officers had reasonable suspicion to extend the traffic stop based on inconsistencies in Williams’s and Bloom’s travel plans and the discovery that Bloom was on probation. The court also found that probable cause for the search of the vehicle was established when a drug-sniffing dog alerted to the presence of narcotics, and that probable cause for Bloom’s arrest was established upon the discovery of drugs in the vehicle. Click HERE for case text.