The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit on Monday denied a man’s claim that he was subjected to an unreasonably long traffic stop, and that a trial court’s use of edited police camera footage should have been inadmissible.

A traffic stop involving Richard Thornton lasted 85 minutes, with a drug-detection dog finding 45 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle. After being charged, Thornton argued in court that 45 minutes elapsed between the time he stopped for officers and when the dog found the drugs, which he deemed an unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment.

A state trial court judge deemed the detention proper because an officer needed the time to determine what the car’s Arizona plates – labeled “not for use on the highway” and “for credit only” – meant. Thornton received 12 years in prison, and he filed an appeal that the court should have suppressed evidence. He argued that when the prosecution showed an edited video of the traffic stop recorded from the police vehicle, it was condensed to appear shorter than in reality.

Two district judges denied Thornton’s appeal, with one finding that “the factual mistake concerning the length of [his] detention made by the Colorado Court of Appeals did not devalue or compromise the proceedings afforded to [him].”

The 10th Circuit granted a certificate of appealability, which occurs when a petitioner states a valid claim for a violated constitutional right and “jurists of reason would find it debatable whether the district court was correct in its procedural ruling.”

However, a two-judge panel found that there was no willful misapplication of constitutional standards here, and “the state court proceedings afforded Thornton a full and fair opportunity to litigate his Fourth Amendment claim.” They dismissed Thornton’s case. 

Circuit Judge Monroe G. McKay, the third member of the panel, died on March 28, and his vote was not included in the opinion.