A Florida appeals court has reversed a man’s conviction on July 24, 2026, ruling that law enforcement impermissibly prolonged a traffic stop to perform a drug sniff with a K-9 unit. The ruling by the Fifth District Court of Appeal comes in the case of Nicholas Jamal Hudson, who was arrested following a traffic stop in Marion County where he was riding as a passenger.

Background of the Case

Contraband was discovered in the vehicle after a police dog walked around the exterior of the car and alerted officers. Hudson originally entered a no-contest plea to multiple charges stemming from the evidence seized during the stop. However, he reserved the right to appeal the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress that evidence.

According to court documents, an officer requested the K-9 unit about four minutes after initiating the traffic stop. While the dog unit arrived shortly after the call, 10 minutes and 20 seconds passed from the initial pull-over before the K-9 exterior sniff actually started. Under established legal precedent, police may use a narcotics dog to sniff the exterior of a vehicle during a routine traffic stop without a search warrant.

Court Ruling

However, state and federal law mandate that the dog sniff must be finished within the time reasonably required to address the original reason for the stop, such as running driver checks and writing a traffic ticket or warning. Writing for the court, Judge Edwards noted that the state failed to present evidence explaining or justifying the delay between the initial stop and the dog sniff.

The officer who pulled the car over did not write a traffic ticket and could not recall if he had given the driver a written warning. “We agree that the traffic stop was improperly and unnecessarily prolonged,” Edwards wrote. “Accordingly, we quash the order denying Appellant’s motion to suppress.”

Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.