Court: Conviction
unconstitutional
■ Police use of a dog to
sniff through apartment
door violated Fourth
Amendment, ruling says.
By Jake Bleed
Senior staff writer
The Nebraska Supreme Court on
Friday overturned an Omaha man’s
1997 conviction, saying police use of a
dog outside his apartment door to sniff
for drugs was unconstitutional.
Based partly on the dog ’s reaction,
police searched die home of Eddie R.
Ortiz Jr. and found one-quarter nf an
ounce of cocaine, four ounces of mari
juana and $17,300, court documents
said.
“We conclude that, given the legiti
mate e?spectation of some measure of
privacy in the hallway, the canine sniff
for illegal drugs ... violated the Fourth
Amendment,” Justice Lindsey Miller
Lerman wrote in the opinion—
Ortiz was convicted of possession
of cocaine with intent to sell and mari
juana with intent to sell. He was sen
tenced to serve five to eight years in
prison.
Omaha Police brought Pogo, a dog
specially trained to detect the smell of
narcotics, to the door of Ortiz’s apart
ment in the 800 block of S. 70th St., on
the evening of Aug. 7,1997, the opinion
said.
After Pogo’s reaction indicated
drugs were inside, police obtained a
“no-knock” daytime search warrant,
which allowed them to enter and search
Ortiz’s apartment.
Ortiz, who turned himself in to
police on Aug. 18,1997, objected to the
inclusion of die drugs and money seized
by police in the search. The trial court
overruled the objection.
“Because the fruits of the unconsti
tutional search should have been
excluded, the trial court erred in over
ruling Ortiz’s motion to suppress the
evidence seized pursuant to the search
and in admitting that evidence at trial,”
Justice Miller-Lerman wrote.
The court ruled apartment residents
have a reasonable expectation of priva
cy outside their apartment doors and
that hallways are not entirely public'
areas.
Justice William Connolly con
curred with the opinion, adding the use
of a dog to sniff through a door consti
tuted a search and therefore violated the
Fourth Amendment.
But unlike the majority of the court,
Connolly wrote that to use a dog outside
an apartment’s door, police needed a
search warrant before being constitu
tional.
Miller-Lerman wrote that a canine
can only be used outside an apartment’s
door after police “possess at a minimum
reasonable, articulable suspicion that
the location to be tested contains drugs.”
Woman charged with child v
neglect after chase ends
A high-speed chase that began out
side Ceresco ended On Fairfield Street
just past First Street early Sunday morn
ing, said Capt. David Beggs.
' A Saunders County deputy tried to
pull over Norma Jean Goodteacher, 34,
around 4 a.m. Sunday, Beggs said.
Goodteacher sped away down
Highway 77, took 56l!j Street into
Lincoln, turned first onto Comhusker
Highway and then onto Adams Street,
Beggs said.
Goodteacher turned onto First
Street and then onto Fairfield Street,
where she drove across “stop sticks,” a
device which punctures a car’s tires
slowly, allowing the driver to retain con
trol of the car, Beggs said.
The stop sticks were laid by a
Lancaster County Sheriff.
In the car. police found
Goodteacher’s 5-year-old child.
Goodteacher was arrested on suspi
cion of felony child neglect, a host of
driving offenses and an outstanding
warrantx
Goodteacher was also wanted on
several warrants in Saunders County.
17-year-old suspected
of planning robbery
Police arrested a 17-year-old in
Lincoln after they found him outside a
convenience store apparently waiting to
rob it, Beggs said.
t-' PoRce received a telephone call at
4:25 p.m. Saturday that the teen-ager
was planning to rob the Kwik Shop,
5600 Holdrege St., Beggs said.
Officers found the teen dressed in
black outside the store armed with a BB
pistol, Beggs said.
The teen was arrested on suspicion
of carrying a concealed weapon, giving
false information to a police officer and
attempted robbery.
$21,434 in property stolen
from Lincoln home
Two men broke into an apartment at
30th and 0 streets Thursday morning
and took $21,434 in property, police
said.
The apartment’s resident came
home and found his apartment door
kicked in, said officer Katherine
Finnell.
A neighbor told police she saw two
men moving items out of the apartment
between 9 and 10 a.m., Finnell said.
The pair loaded the items into a red
pickup truck parked behind the apart
ment building, Finnell said.
Taken were three televisions, stereo
equipment, men’s watches, sunglasses,
a VCR, a mountain bike and a 7,000
piece sports card collection valued at
$15,000. Damage to the door totaled
$100.
Compiled by senior staff writer
Jake Bleed
Activists protest anti-rape ad’s ban
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
(AP) - South African activists on
Sunday slammed afrecision to ban an
anti-rape television advertisement some
men thought was anti-male. The coun
try has one of the world’s highest rape
rates.
The Advertising Standards
Authority of South Africa quashed the
ad after about 30 men complained the
ad implied that all South African men
are rapists, Sunday newspapers report
ed.
“Basically, this ad was saying that
half of South Africa’s men are rapists,
and the other half condone rape,” Peter
Vundla, the committee chairman, was
quoted as saying in the Sunday Times.
“That is not supported by evidence and
is discriminatory* even sexist.”
Miranda Friedman, a leader off
Women Against Child Abuse, said
women would contest the decision and s
start challenging ads that were demean
ing to females.
“We sent 250,000 signatures for
stiffer rape sentences, and they still
haven’t been implemented,” Friedman
said. The decision to ban the anti-rape
ad “shows us, and shows the interna
tional community, exactly where the
balance of power is in this country.”
/
Students, faculty and
_ _-SqI staff are all invited to
^|« come to this event
m£±m ^ starting at 6 p.m. at
Df - gM| * —.- Memorial Stadium
■ KB||l- ^■®irnr iS directed toward (bring your faculty/staff
■ wT.m fireen’s »«n0T0JegWe audience or student |D)
We’ll provide free
food to the first 5,000
people through the
doors, drawings for
door prizes andjots
of fun.
The event is a joint
effort of the
Homecoming Steering
Committee and the
Athletic Department.
_mg Tradition ^
Faculty/Staff spouse and family may attend. Spouse - $5.00; Children - $3.00 per. Advanced tickets sales ONLY! No
walk ups will be allowed. Ticket does not guarantee food. For reservations call the "Tailgate on the Turf Reservations
Line” at 472-2593.
jp____
Fora complimentary Engagement Package, call 1.800.642.GIFT
BORSHEIM'S.
Fine Jewelry and Gifts
A Berkshire Hathaway Company
Regency Court, 120 Regency Parkway, Omaha, NE 68114 (402) 391-0400 (800) 642-GIFT
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