When Davenport police begin investigating suspected drug activity at an apartment complex, two K9s—Kurly and Dawn—are called in to put their noses to work.

What follows becomes much more complicated than a narcotics investigation. The dogs' work raises a Fourth Amendment question that makes its way through the federal courts, forcing judges to consider where the protections of a home begin when that home is an apartment.

This week on Dog Days of Murder, we're following two very different police dogs, the investigation that brought their paths together, and a legal fight where even the hallway matters.

Sources

• United States v. Donell Hines, No. 21-2477, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, opinion filed March 10, 2023.
• U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Iowa — “Davenport Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Drug Charge,” June 30, 2021.
• U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Iowa — federal sentencing information concerning Donell Hines's subsequent drug conviction and 2026 sentence.
• Davenport Police Department — K9 Kurly memorial/retirement information and community responses, Facebook.
• Davenport Police Department — K9 Dawn retirement announcement and career information, Facebook.
• City of Davenport, Iowa — community and city background.
• Florida v. Jardines, 569 U.S. 1 (2013).
• United States v. Scott, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (2010).
• United States v. Hopkins, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (2017).
• United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (1984).
• Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (1978).
• National Institutes of Health / National Library of Medicine — research on canine olfaction and the biology of the canine nose.

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Music by Vibe Depot and Mircea Iancu