NJ: Trial court was clearly erroneous in finding apartment was abandoned

The apartment was clearly not abandoned, and the trial court’s finding that it was was clearly erroneous. It had furniture and other stuff in it showing occupancy, and the officers never asked the landlord whether it was unoccupied. The trial court decided defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the apartment, but New Jersey is an automatic standing state. State v. Randolph, 2017 N.J. LEXIS 426 (May 3, 2017).

The search warrant affidavit showed a fair probability that defendant’s home contained marijuana. A trash pull uncovered a small amount of marijuana inside a sealed plastic bag, and two detectives had smelled the obvious and distinct odor of unburnt marijuana when they approached the home several days earlier. United States v. Talley, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 7905 (6th Cir. May 2, 2017).*