Posted on 12/12/2018 4:44:58 PM PST by KC_Lion
A divided Kansas Supreme Court affirmed Lawrence Hubbards misdemeanor convictions in a case demonstrating police officers relying exclusively on olfactory skills to detect raw marijuana can supply probable cause to support search of a residence.
The decision by the high court extended to a private residence the accepted principle in Kansas that a trained and experienced officers detection of the aroma of marijuana could justify the legal search of a vehicle. The ruling also resolved conflicting Kansas Court of Appeals decisions.
Supreme Court justices, on a 4-3 vote, rejected arguments put forth by Hubbards attorney, including questions about whether Lawrence Police Officer Kimberly Nicholson and one of her peers had to be an expert in pot odor to testify about justification for search of the apartment. Hubbard also challenged whether Nicholson was capable of detecting the strong odor of raw marijuana emanating from the apartment while standing outside the buildings front door.
Justice Dan Biles, who wrote the majority opinion released Friday sustaining the Court of Appeals decision in 2016 upholding the convictions, said officers didnt have to perform a sophisticated sensory task to proceed with reasonable action intended to prevent possible destruction of evidence.
(Excerpt) Read more at cjonline.com ...
For your interest.
I don’t use the stuff, but it does have a distinctive stink.
Home beer making can produce the same odor.
Hops is closely related to weed.
The problem with this decision is that it will be used to justify every illegal search done in Kansas from now until the practice is ended either by statute or the USSC.
Yes you are quite right. I had not thought of that but in its raw form the smell is similar. In that case the police should have to prove that they can distinguish it from other smells. Interesting!
A detailed search of the house after securing a warrant didnt reveal a pile of pot on a dining room table or stacked in a secret room. The only significant amount of unsmoked marijuana was 25 grams stored in a closed Tupperware container locked inside a safe located in Hubbards bedroom closet. A small amount of weed was detected on a partially burnt cigarillo in the living room.
Kinda doubt the perp was making beer in his car, though. :-))
Grafting hops onto a pot plant yields a THC laden leafy substance.
Don’t know how it tastes, read about it in High Times back in high school, lol.
There were varieties developed in England that smell like cheese, when growing. I assume they smell that way when dried.
What have you got to hide? /s
Like the trained and experienced officer who identified bits of Krispy Kreme glaze as meth?
While I detest the war on pot, this decision fully comports with Kansas law.
Having been around pot all of my life I can say unequivocally you can smell a large amount of marijuana, often from blocks away.
But anyone who claims they can small less than an ounce inside tupperware, inside a safe from outside the front door is a damn liar.
A dirty damn liar.
As a matter of fact, yes.
“The only significant amount of unsmoked marijuana was 25 grams stored in a closed Tupperware container locked inside a safe located in Hubbards bedroom closet.”
So the cop lied that he smelled it when he was outside the front door.
That would be my suspicion, also just like cigarette smoke, pot smoke will permeate a house, car, clothing. The problem I have is they said they smelled “raw” marijuana, not burning pot or residual or stale dope smoke in order to get the warrant.
What else smells like pot that could cause confusion?
A skunk.
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