Originally Posted by T-the-B

Thank you for the explanation. I can easily understand your reasoning and must agree that it makes sense and that the "drug courier" scenario could be one explanation for why a person had only one key on a ring. May I suggest a few others?

1. I am renting a car for a legitimate purpose,
2. My car is in the shop and I am driving a loaner,
3. My family has more drivers than vehicles, thus the keys for each vehicle are kept separate from each driver's "personal" keyring.
4. I use valet parking often and, being cautious, do not want to give the valet a key to everything I've got, just a key to my vehicle.

It seems to me that each of the above would be a more likely explanation for a single key than "I am a drug courier." I know that #1 and #4 are true for me almost every time I fly on business. I use an airport parking location that offers valet service and almost always rent a car at my location. Rationale #3 applied to me for many years both when I was a teenager living at home and when my children were teenagers.

Should the concept of "reasonable suspicion" involve not just an explanation of what could be the case but also factor in what is likely to be the case? If not then almost anything could be used to justify "reasonable suspicion". ("Your honor, he had a shovel in the back of his pickup. He could have used it to bury a body, therefore my stop was justified."