DE: Officer’s vague and untimely ID of MJ wasn’t PC here

Officer’s vague and untimely identification of the odor of marijuana was not probable cause in itself on the totality of these circumstances. Juliano v. State, 320, 2019 (Del. Sept. 10, 2021):

. . . In this appeal, Juliano contends that, although the odor of marijuana may support the extension of a traffic stop or serve as a factor contributing to probable cause to search a person or vehicle, it does not, standing alone, authorize a full custodial arrest.

In this opinion, we hold that, under the totality of the circumstances presented by the State in this unusual case, including the vagueness of the officers’ description of the marijuana odor, the timing of their detection of that odor, and the absence of any other observations indicative of criminality, Juliano’s arrest was unreasonable and therefore violates the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 6 of the Delaware Constitution. It follows that the evidence obtained following Juliano’s unlawful arrest should have been suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree. This being so, we reverse.

This entry was posted in Plain view, feel, smell, Probable cause. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.