Suspiciously polite.

• Author: Remington, Jess
• Position: An unconstitutional search - Brief article

On December 12, 2012, on an Ohio state highway, Patrolman Jared Haslar pulled over Joshua Fontaine for driving 45 miles per hour in a 35 miles per hour zone. According to a subsequent court ruling, Haslar became "suspicious of criminal activity" after

Fontaine exhibited "unusual" body language and behavior. "He was extremely--like almost overly polite," Haslar testified, "and he was breathing heavily at times while I was talking to him."

Haslar believed this behavior provided reasonable suspicion that Fontaine was up to no good, so he brought the man back to his patrol car, where he patted him down for weapons and wrote up a traffic ticket. At this point, a second officer arrived with a drug-sniffing dog. The dog reportedly indicated that it smelled illicit material, so the officers searched the vehicle, uncovering a loaded .40-caliber handgun and a bag of marijuana.

The trial...