Cal.4: Because CA recognizes recreational MJ, possession of a small amount on the person isn’t probable cause to search the car

Because of recreational marijuana in California, hardly any weight can be attached to possession of a small quantity on a person in a car. People v. Lee, 2019 Cal. App. LEXIS 964 (4th Dist. Oct. 3, 2019):

We conclude the vehicle search in this case does not fall within either of these exceptions. As to the first—the automobile exception—the facts known to Officer Robles at the time he removed the occupants were insufficient to establish probable cause to search the Cadillac. The recent legalization of marijuana in California means we can now attach fairly minimal significance to the presence of a legal amount of the drug on Lee’s person, and the remaining facts cited by the People do not provide any reasonable basis to believe contraband would be found in the car. As to the second, the inventory search exception does not apply because no community caretaking function was served by impounding the Cadillac, and the trial court reasonably found that Robles’s primary motive was to investigate, not inventory, the vehicle’s contents. Because the search was neither supported by probable cause nor constituted a proper inventory search, it was constitutionally unreasonable and the trial court properly granted Lee’s motion to suppress.

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