Lawyer Wants State Troopers to Sniff Marijuana

Lawyer Wants State Troopers to Sniff Marijuana

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CALHOUN, Ga. (AP) -- The lawyer for a man accused of having 10 pounds of marijuana says something about the arrest smells. He wants two Georgia State Patrol troopers to prove they can sniff out pot tied up in a trash bag inside a car trunk.

If troopers Jeff Adamson and Kevin Turner are unable to repeat the feat with a random car in the Gordon County courthouse parking lot, attorney David West says the evidence against Jarmane Vernon Knox should be suppressed for lack of probable cause for a search.

West says: "If these officers really think they are human drug dogs, let's put them to the test."

Knox and passenger Derrick Mikes were stopped on Interstate 75, initially because the license plate tag light was out.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is hilarious. I wonder if I could place a wager in Las Vegas on this one. I say they can't do it again. This just shows that cops can use any reason to stop you if they really so desire and a person can't do much about it. The man had the dope so he should be guilty, but the method used to discover those drugs have to be questioned.

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(visit the link for the full news article)

Are you aware that the Supreme Court has ruled that if an officer detects the smell of marijuana coming from a vehicle that it is probable cause for a search? These officers followed proper, legal procedure.

I can say that ten pounds of pot is a lot, I mean that is really a lot of pot. I would say that it took up a large amount of the trunk. I also know that often you can smell pot even in small amounts depending on how fresh, and its type.


Now I am not saying that the cops definitely could smell the stuff but I would think there is a chance they did. I mean ten pounds is a huge amount concentrated in a small area. If it was warm then the inside of the trunk was heated making the scent even stronger.


As for being pulled over they stopped the car for the license plate tag light being out. That is a legitimate reason to stop a car. They need to see the plate to see if it is stolen of expired.


Again ten pounds of pot is a huge amount. The more of something you have the more smell you will have. If it happens to get warm it seems to make it easier to smell as well. If they pulled over the car they had to walk passed the trunk to get up to the drivers area to speak with them. A lot of times police will touch the trunk/rear fender as they pass as well. This puts them close enough to the trunk which contains a large amount of pot that does have a strong odor to it making it plausible they did smell it.

Raist

They better make those cops do it. It's not an unreasonable request, considering that their case rests on their claim to have smelled the dope from the trunk. Its would seem to be a pretty clear case of profiling if they are not able to repeat the performance, and definitely an unreasonable search and seizure. Suspicion, or a "gut feeling" is NOT probable cause for a search, and people need to know that they do not have to consent to a search without the officer telling you what that cause is.

I have heard that it is illegal for an officer to hold you longer than the few minutes it would take to write a traffic ticket in order to get a dog to sniff your car unless there is probable cause. Does anyone know if this is true? I know that there are some officers on the board here...

Hypothetically, if you pull me over and see I have long hair, but do not see or smell anything, and I have no warrents, all my papers are in order, and I'm not acting suspicious, but you think that I might have some contraband (just on a gut feeling based on my appearance and all the hippie bumper stickers on the back of my car) and ask to search my car, what happens if I say no?

Originally posted by keeb333

and ask to search my car, what happens if I say no?

You'll most likely have to listen to them try to scare, bully, and pressure you into letting them search.

You'll hear things like "If you have nothing to hide why are you refusing to a search?" OR... "If you let us just search through your property it will be a lot faster than us detaining you here until a dog gets here."
My personal favorite is "If you are refusing the search because you are hiding something now is the time to tell us before the dog gets here."

Just keep repeating the same thing "I do not give consent to a search of my vehicle or my person." Make sure you say it loud enough for the dashcam in the cruiser to pick it up.


As for the topic at hand I think they should make the officers do this. This is their reason for probable cause for a search. They should have to prove that probable cause. We have to prove our innocence they should have to prove how they got their probable cause.

Assuming the pictures in the article are not stock images and the marijuana really is in cheap bags….

I’d say they could easily smell 10 pounds.

Who would transport that much weight without inspecting their vehicle first?

They should have watched the Barry Cooper - Never Get Busted Again DVD