(Source: MIRS.news, Published 11/06/2023) The question of whether police officers have probable cause to search a vehicle that reeks of marijuana is now in the hands of the Michigan Supreme Court.
The state's high court is adding the case, People v. Armstrong, to its calendar after the Michigan Court of Appeals held in a November published opinion that the smell of marijuana – standing alone – isn't enough to order people out of a car and search it.
The opinion reversed 20 years of precedent established by the Michigan Supreme Court's Kazmierczak opinion, which held that the "very strong smell of marijuana emanating from [a] vehicle … furnished 'probable cause to search for marijuana.'" The case ruled as the state successfully moved to legalize marijuana for medical purposes and then for recreational use.
The defendant, Jeffery Scott Armstrong, was a passenger in a parked vehicle when officers made contact with the driver. The officers said they smelled marijuana and they ordered the driver and Armstrong out of the vehicle and conducted a search, which led to a gun and felony weapons charges against Armstrong.
The gun was located underneath the passenger seat, and it became "visible" when the officers ordered Armstrong out of the vehicle.
The trial court suppressed the gun, which dismissed the charges, and the appeals court affirmed.
The court asked the parties to file supplemental briefs answering whether the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act supersedes the rule that the "smell of marijuana alone" by someone qualified to know the odor can establish probable cause to search a motor vehicle.
The Supreme Court has invited the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan and the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan to file amicus briefs. It is case No. 165233.
