SAN DIEGO DISTRICT ATTORNEY The Fourth Amendment and ...

Examples:
Exceptions:
This, however, does not relieve the officer of the necessity of
obtaining a search warrant before looking for, and seizing, the
source of the odor, absent exigent circumstances excusing the lack
of a warrant. (Id. at p. 14 [92 L.Ed. at pp. 440-441].)
Also, while seizure of a package from which the odor of marijuana
is emanating may be lawful, a warrantless search of that package
absent exigent circumstances is not lawful. (Robey v. Superior
Court [Superior Court] (2011) 200 Cal.App.4 th 1.)
The odor of opium coming from an apartment supplied sufficient
probable cause to justify an entry, arrest and search of the
apartment. (People v. Bock Leung Chew, supra,)
Odor of marijuana smoke during a traffic stop justified the search
of a vehicle. (People v. Lovejoy (1970) 12 Cal.App.3 rd 883, 887.)
The “strong odor of fresh marijuana” on defendant’s person was
held to be probable cause to believe defendant was in possession of
the marijuana. (People v. Gale (1973) 9 Cal.3 rd 788, 793, fn. 4.)
The odor of marijuana emanating from two trucks at a private
airstrip, under circumstances consistent with smuggling operations,
was found to constitute probable cause to believe the trucks
contained marijuana. (United States v. Johns (1985) 469 U.S. 478
[83 L.Ed.2 nd 890].)
The odor of beer noted during a traffic stop supplied probable
cause to search the car for alcohol. (People v. Molina (1994) 25
Cal.App.4 th 1038.)
The courts in some jurisdictions feel that the odor alone, without
other suspicious circumstances, may not be sufficient to establish
probable cause. (See People v. Taylor (Mich. 1997) 564 N.W.2 nd
24; odor of marijuana did not justify the warrantless search of a
vehicle.)
And Note: The courts uniformly have held that the odor of ether (a
byproduct of the manufacturing process for some dangerous
drugs), emanating from a particular location (e.g., a house or
garage), is not probable cause to search for drugs.
© 2012 Robert C. Phillips. All rights reserved
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