The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant v. Heather L. Esparza, Defendant-Appellee

Summary

The court held that a narcotics-detection dog sniff of the exterior of a vehicle does not itself constitute a search under the Colorado Constitution because it reveals only whether the vehicle contains contraband, in which possession no legitimate privacy interest exists. The court therefore reversed suppression orders entered where the vehicles had been lawfully stopped, detained, and left parked, even though police lacked reasonable suspicion before conducting the sniffs. Justice Hobbs, joined by Chief Justice Bender, dissented, arguing that Colorado precedent required reasonable suspicion and that the majority improperly abandoned that precedent without adequate stare decisis analysis.