WA Court: smell of marijuana insufficient to support probable cause for arrest

[moldyorangepeel]

Smell of Marijuana Is Insufficient Cause for Search and Arrest | Slog | The Stranger | Seattle's Only Newspaper
Smell of Marijuana Is Insufficient Cause for Search and Arrest

The Washington State Supreme Court ruled this morning that an officer was unjustified when he arrested a car passenger after smelling marijuana. On behalf of the unanimous court, Justice Charles W. Johnson wrote:

On April 6, 2006, state trooper Brent Hanger passed a vehicle with very dark, tinted windows…. Hanger detected the “moderate[]” smell of marijuana coming from the car. … He informed both Hurley and Grande they were under arrest based on the odor of marijuana. Hurley and Grande were both handcuffed and searched. The search of Grande revealed a marijuana pipe containing a small amount of marijuana….

Each individual possesses the right to privacy, meaning that person has the right to be left alone by police unless there is probable cause based on objective facts that the person is committing a crime. This probable cause requirement is derived from the language of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides, “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause … .” Our state constitution similarly protects our right to privacy in article I, section 7, stating, “[n]o person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, or his home invaded, without authority of law.” …

We hold that the smell of marijuana in the general area where an individual is located is insufficient, without more, to support probable cause for arrest.

Shorter: “Police have to have evidence of who has marijuana,” says Alison Holcomb, director of the Marijuana Education Project for the ACLU of Washington. “They cannot just arrest everybody and sort it out later.”

[Smaerd]

SO this is the court case proving that no cop can search you based on smell?

[OldMan&TheWeed]

The important word here is "unanimous."

[Prophet Saddam]

And the even more important word is Washington.

[Suliman]

a friend of mine got suspended for smelling like weed. he got tested a few weeks later and came clean, so they ended up dropping the suspension, but its always pissed me off
good post

[Smaerd]

Schools are diff then Legislature ^. Hence you can't have cigarettes at school even if your 18.

Also, this is awesome I am printing this out and putting it in my car haha.

[Prophet Saddam]

Remember though, this is the State of Washington Supreme Court.

Won't do you much good in any other state.

[Prophet Saddam]

Moreover, from the comments section of the OP-linked article:

Smell is still sufficient cause to search, and any weed that is found is sufficient cause to arrest whomever it is found on, and/or the car's driver. In practice, people who drive around smoking pot are going to get busted just about as much as before.

I think this person has it spot on. The smell wasn't good enough for arrest, but I'm sure it will still be PC for a search.

Know your rights.

Exercise your rights.


Power to The People!