State v. Herzog

In 2022, a detective who had been searching for a vehicle for over twelve days located it parked in brush off a dirt road. Upon approaching the vehicle, her smelled burnt methemphetamine and used a canine unit to uncover drug paraphernalia on the defendant. Under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article II, Section 11 of the Montana Constitution, individuals are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures, which are generally unlawful without a judicial warrant issued on probable cause. A temporary investigative stop, or Terry stop, is an exception to the warrant requirement and is permissible when an officer has a particularized suspicion, based on specific and articulable objective facts, that a person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit an offense.The court determined the detective had sufficient particularized suspicion to conduct a Terry stop based on the totality of teh circumstances, which included the the Volkswagon’s unusual driving behavior, abrupt stops at gas station, irregular parking, and the detective’s observations combined with his knowledge and experience.