I have discussed the issue of smell and probable cause with several attorney's and I have sat through possession trial in court.
Since in America people are presumed innocent until a jury determines otherwise, a cop can't kick your door in and search to see if you have body parts in your freezer; just because he sees a new freezer box on the curb.
There was a high profile case a couple of years ago where a guy was charged for illegal possession of a firearm... The arresting officer had heard gun shots coming from a farm and saw several guys in the field shooting clay-pigeons, so he drove his car into the field and began asking questions about who they all were and who owned the guns.
After making notes of all the guys identification and all the info for the guns, he left. Then a week later during a "routine traffic stop" the cop arrested one of the guys who had a previous felony.
The guy he arrested owned the farm but none of the guns were his according to his friends. The court threw the case out because guns are legal to own and discharge in the area of the farm and there was no reason for the cop to "assume" anything illegal was happening. The prosecutor appealed and lost again.
The mere odor of marijuana doesn't suggest a crime is being committed just because some people use it for illegal purposes either. In Seattle last year 2 guys were arrested for possession of mj because a foot cop saw them sitting in their vehicles in a private parking lot. The cop said he smelled mj and suspected it was a drug deal and approached them but they drove away. Other cops busted them in traffic stops later, finding several ounces of mj and charged them with possession and trafficking. Both were legal mmj patients and were conducting a delivery.
Judge dismissed the cases but the prosecutor appealed.
Higher court agreed that since marijuana is in fact legal according to state laws; the odor does not constitute suspicion of a crime being committed.
Since in America people are presumed innocent until a jury determines otherwise, a cop can't kick your door in and search to see if you have body parts in your freezer; just because he sees a new freezer box on the curb.
There was a high profile case a couple of years ago where a guy was charged for illegal possession of a firearm... The arresting officer had heard gun shots coming from a farm and saw several guys in the field shooting clay-pigeons, so he drove his car into the field and began asking questions about who they all were and who owned the guns.
After making notes of all the guys identification and all the info for the guns, he left. Then a week later during a "routine traffic stop" the cop arrested one of the guys who had a previous felony.
The guy he arrested owned the farm but none of the guns were his according to his friends. The court threw the case out because guns are legal to own and discharge in the area of the farm and there was no reason for the cop to "assume" anything illegal was happening. The prosecutor appealed and lost again.
The mere odor of marijuana doesn't suggest a crime is being committed just because some people use it for illegal purposes either. In Seattle last year 2 guys were arrested for possession of mj because a foot cop saw them sitting in their vehicles in a private parking lot. The cop said he smelled mj and suspected it was a drug deal and approached them but they drove away. Other cops busted them in traffic stops later, finding several ounces of mj and charged them with possession and trafficking. Both were legal mmj patients and were conducting a delivery.
Judge dismissed the cases but the prosecutor appealed.
Higher court agreed that since marijuana is in fact legal according to state laws; the odor does not constitute suspicion of a crime being committed.
