Fourth Amendment

Police Used a Truck Inspection To Search for Drugs. The 7th Circuit Said the Fourth Amendment Forbids It.

Cops stopped a semitruck because of a drug tip, then tried to dress the illegal search up as a routine inspection.

Tosin Akintola | 7.9.2026 1:05 PM

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(Illustration: Mikael Damkier/Dreamstime)

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled in favor of Ausencio Martinez, finding that Illinois State Police Trooper and K9 handler Anthony Muzzillo had violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures by using an administrative inspection of Martinez's semitruck as a pretext to engage in a criminal search.

At 3:16 a.m. on October 7, 2021, Muzzillo and another K9 officer—acting on a tip from an unnamed law enforcement agency—pulled over Martinez. The two weren't on regular patrol and had been waiting on the side of the highway for "​​at least thirty minutes," looking out for Martinez's semitruck. 

Under Illinois' Motor Carrier Safety Law, state police are authorized to "stop and inspect"........

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